Persuasion

Persuasion by Jane Austen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When I read this in school I felt frustrated by the propriety which delayed the reconciliation of the couple. I wasn’t reading closely enough, because Austen explains very well why Wentworth’s pride and resentment prevented him from immediately pursuing Anne again once he had made his fortune. It is also made clear at the very beginning of the novel that while Anne was persuaded out of accepting his offer of marriage, she had persuaded herself soon afterwards (when all of Wentworth’s promises of a brilliant career were fulfilled) that she had made a mistake. Austen is very severe with her heroine however. At the very end, Anne insists she was right to be persuaded, because it was the dutiful thing to do, even if the consequences were unhappy. Austen and Anne are not utilitarians.

This is a short and highly patterned novel. The contrivances of the plot arrange characters and scenarios in such ways as to continually suggest ironic echoes of the central dilemma of Anne rejecting Wentworth. Louisa’s self-assurance in the first half is a foil to show Anne’s superiority. And Mr Elliot and Mrs Clay in the second half are like something out of a crime novel – utterly psychopathic operators in the marriage market. Lady Russell is not quite so villainous, although it’s very hard for a modern reader to be sympathetic with her prejudiced outlook. This book is justifiably seen as Austen’s most accomplished achievement, and I’m finally in agreement with that view.

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