Jane Porter
Jane Porter was a prominent British novelist and playwright, known for her contributions to early 19th-century literature. Born to a widowed mother after her father's death, she moved from Edinburgh to London, where she began her writing career. Porter's first novel, *Thaddeus of Warsaw*, about a Polish exile, achieved significant acclaim and garnered attention from notable figures, including the Polish patriot Thaddeus Kościuszko. Among her works, *The Scottish Chiefs* stands out as her most celebrated novel, recognized as a historical romance that paved the way for future literary developments in the genre, including those by her childhood friend, Sir Walter Scott. Although her subsequent plays and novels did not achieve the same level of success, Porter remained active in literary circles throughout her life. Despite facing financial difficulties in her later years, she lived a fulfilling life dedicated to her passion for writing. Notably, Porter never married, which was somewhat atypical for women of her era, allowing her to focus on her literary pursuits.
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Jane Porter
English novelist
- Born: 1776
- Birthplace: Durham, England
- Died: May 24, 1850
- Place of death: Bristol, England
Biography
Jane Porter was the daughter of an army officer who died when she was three years old. Soon afterward her widowed mother took the family to Edinburgh to live, but shortly before 1803 the entire family moved to London, where Porter began to write. Her first book, Thaddeus of Warsaw, the story of a Polish exile, had an amazing success with critics and the public; among the people who sent congratulatory messages to the author was the renowned Polish patriot Thaddeus Kościuszko. With the publication of her first novel Porter became as well known as her brother, the painter Sir Robert Ker Porter, and her sister, Anna Maria Porter, who was also a popular novelist of the period.
The novel that is generally considered Jane Porter’s best is The Scottish Chiefs, a historical romance of the kind later made famous by Sir Walter Scott, who was a childhood friend of Porter. Indeed, The Scottish Chiefs is one of the few historical novels prior to Scott’s Waverley series that has continued to command a body of readers. After her initial success as a novelist, Porter turned to the writing of plays. Her first effort was never staged, and her second was a failure so complete that it ended her career as a dramatist. She wrote and published a number of later novels, but none caught the public or critical fancy as had her first two. Porter, who never married, spent much of her life in literary and artistic society and lived a happy and serene life, although her situation was financially somewhat straitened in her later years.
Bibliography
Batchelor, Rhonda. “The Rise and Fall of the Eighteenth Century’s Authentic Feminine Voice.” Eighteenth Century Fiction 6, no. 4 (July, 1994).
Hamer, Lynne. “Folklore and History Studies in Early Nineteenth Century England: Jane Porter and Anna Eliza Bray.” The Folklore Historian 10 (1993).
Hook, A. D. “Jane Porter, Sir Walter Scott, and the Historical Novel.” Clio 5 (1976).
Zapatka, Francis E. “Jane Porter’s Kosciuszko.” In Selected Essays from the Fiftieth Anniversary International Congress of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America, edited by James S. Pula et al. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.