Perspective

Jane Austen writes letters to her family and close friends while she is not with them. In the case of her sister, her letters denote that one of them is visiting since neither of them married, and they lived together. She often writes to her brothers to inform them of what was going on at home with her mother, Cassandra and herself, as well as to gain information about the well-being of their respective families. Most of her letters are social in nature and are meant to convey and gather information between her location and her recipient's location.

Most of Jane Austen's letters concentrate on facts, such as the weather, where she is staying and what she has done; however, she also has a tendency to comment on people. She frequently praises or condemns the people that she meets to Cassandra, presumably giving her very honest opinion. Balls...