3 of Jane Austen’s 6 brothers engaged in antislavery activism − new research offers more clues about her own views

More than 200 years after her death, Jane Austen’s views on slavery remain unclear. Jim Dyson/Getty Images by Devoney Looser, Arizona State University More than two centuries after Jane Austen died in 1817, many of the English novelist’s fans want to know her takes on her day’s big issues, including race, colonialism and slavery. Vigorous debates continue about what she may have thought, but her family’s engagement in the movement to abolish slavery is gradually coming to light. After scouring 19th-century newspapers and archives for new information, I have discovered that three of Austen’s brothers publicly participated in the abolition movement in the years after her death. The efforts of one of her brothers, which I unearthed from historical records, are described here for the first time and will be included in my forthcoming book, “Wild for Austen,” in 2025. Race and slavery in Austen’s novels Many readers suspect Austen was critical of colonial slavery’s violence and harm, but there’s no consensus on this question. Austen, the author of “Pride and Prejudice” and other classic novels, includes the words “slave” and “slavery” in her fiction on nearly a dozen occasions. Her last unfinished novel, “Sanditon,” features a mixed-race character named...