Editing Jane Austen (section)

===Education===
[[File:CassandraAustenSilhouette.png|thumb|Silhouette of [[Cassandra Austen]], Jane's sister and closest friend]]

In 1783 Austen and her sister Cassandra were sent to [[Oxford]] to be educated by Ann Cawley, who took them to [[Southampton]] later that year. That autumn both girls were sent home after catching [[typhus]], of which Jane nearly died.<ref>Le Faye (2004), 47–49; Collins (1994), 35, 133.</ref> She was from then home-educated, until she attended boarding school with her sister from early in 1785 at the [[Reading Abbey Girls' School]], ruled by Mrs La Tournelle.<ref>Todd (2015), 3</ref> The curriculum probably included French, spelling, needlework, dancing, music and drama. The sisters returned home before December 1786 because the school fees for the two girls were too high for the Austen family.<ref>Tomalin (1997), 9–10, 26, 33–38, 42–43; Le Faye (2004), 52; Collins (1994), 133–134</ref> After 1786 Austen "never again lived anywhere beyond the bounds of her immediate family environment".<ref>Le Faye (2004), 52</ref>

Her education came from reading, guided by her father and brothers James and Henry.<ref>Grundy (2014), 192–193; Tomalin (1997), 28–29, 33–43, 66–67; Honan (1987), 31–34; Lascelles (1966), 7–8</ref> [[Irene Collins]] said that Austen "used some of the same school books as the boys".<ref>Collins (1994), 42</ref> Austen apparently had unfettered access both to her father's library and that of a family friend, [[Warren Hastings]]. Together these collections amounted to a large and varied library.  Her father was also tolerant of Austen's sometimes risqué experiments in writing, and provided both sisters with expensive paper and other materials for their writing and drawing.<ref>Honan (1987), 66–68; Collins (1994), 43</ref>

Private theatricals were an essential part of Austen's education. From her early childhood, the family and friends staged a series of plays in the [[rectory]] barn, including [[Richard Brinsley Sheridan|Richard Sheridan]]'s ''[[The Rivals]]'' (1775) and [[David Garrick]]'s ''[[Bon Ton (play)|Bon Ton]]''. Austen's eldest brother James wrote the prologues and epilogues and she probably joined in these activities, first as a spectator and later as a participant.<ref>Le Faye (2014), xvi–xvii; Tucker (1986), 1–2; Byrne (2002), 1–39; Gay (2002), ix, 1; Tomalin (1997), 31–32, 40–42, 55–57, 62–63; Honan (1987), 35, 47–52, 423–424, n. 20.</ref><!-- check all these refs --> Most of the plays were comedies, which suggests how Austen's satirical gifts were cultivated.<ref>Honan (1987), 53–54; Lascelles (1966), 106–107; Litz (1965), 14–17.</ref><!-- check all these refs --> At the age of 12, she tried her own hand at dramatic writing; she wrote three short plays during her teenage years.<ref>Tucker (1986), 2</ref>