Persuasion is a story about Anne Elliot and Frederick Wentworth who were in love eight and a half years ago. Her friend Lady Russel persuades Anne that it's not wise to marry a penniless naval officer when she is only 19, so she refuses Frederick. Eight and a half years later Anne's father has spent so much money they must move to Bath and rent out Kellynch Hall to tenants. Admiral and Mrs. Croft, the sister of the now wealthy Captain Frederick Wentworth become the tenants of Kellynch Hall. It's a story about pride, choices, persuasion, and second chances. Or perhaps even third chances. It's moving, emotional, and mature in a way that appeals to those of us who have lived through some difficult choices, that is to say, lived.
Part of the charm of this story, and one might argue, every Austen story, is the thoughtful way it deals with flawed traits. A casual observer might say that Anne is flawed because she is too weak-willed, too willing to be persuaded to other points of view. In fact, Frederick believes it at first when he is still bitter about being refused. However, as the story progresses it becomes increasingly clear that persuasion, like any trait, has its good sides. A person's strength is often their weakness. So the story goes about telling us how the weakness of Anne at 19 is actually her strength at a more mature age.
The story of Persuasion tells us repeatedly that being capable of being persuaded to see reason and amend one's own position based on logic and rationale is a good thing, even when it has difficult consequences. Those characters who cannot be persuaded to be sensible, who act only on feelings, end up feeling the consequences in visibly negative ways. People who can't be persuaded end up: insolvent because they can't be persuaded to spend money wisely (like Sir Walter), friendless because they cannot be persuaded to see value in people outside of social rank and flattery (like Elizabeth), severely injured because they cannot be persuaded that their ideas are foolish and dangerous (like Louisa), or even alone because they cannot be persuaded to overcome their pride (like Captain Wentworth at first).
Persuasion as a Force of Good
 |
| Sir Walter judging the appearance of a naval man |
At every turn success and well-being of the characters comes with the ability to be persuaded to see and act rationally. Sir Walter and Elizabeth enjoy better society in Bath once they are persuaded to go there to live more cheaply and attempt to pay their debts. Captain Benwick is able to rejoin the happy and lively world of the future once he is persuaded that he should read more prose and should think of moving forward now, not living solely in the past. Only after he realizes that he must, does he find Louisa agreeable enough to pursue and marry. Anne is persuaded that the Elliot pride is directly hindering her happiness and starts to act against it by fighting to maintain friendships her family does not approve of and ultimately trying to show Captain Wentworth her feelings. Captain Wentworth is persuaded to overcome his pride and finally pursue Anne in Bath, and it is from that decision that his happiness ultimately stems.
Persuasion can be a moderating force. It can help you balance out your tendencies towards pride, towards vanity, towards making rash decisions. It can help encourage good behavior and ameliorate foolish ideas. No person is without flaws. This is part of the reason why it is important to have intelligent people around you who want good things for you. These friends can help you balance out mistakes and misunderstandings with different perspectives and smooth out flaws in yourself with their influence, their persuasion.
Persuasion as a Portion of Duty - Material Considerations
At the heart of the story is that first act of persuasion by Lady Russel, which led Anne to be persuaded by duty and logic not to accept Captain Wentworth when she was only 19 and he was a young penniless naval officer. Some people and adaptations think this was a bad thing, but Jane Austen tells us it was not. Anne doesn't regret being persuaded to not accept Captain Wentworth when they were so young and he was penniless. I think both Anne and Lady Russel were aware that Elizabeth was not likely to make a good match, none of the daughters were going to inherit the estate, they weren't even on speaking terms with the heir. They had no dowry, considering that Sir Walter had spent every penny and was in shocking piles of debt. It looked as though Anne would have to marry well to be safe and possibly care for her sisters once Sir Walter had gone. Was it fair that she was therefore persuaded that love was not enough? No. But it was a very rational choice at the time. Even if he had been prosperous straight off, if he had died immediately (a possibility in a war), she would have been left a widow. We see in both Mrs. Clay and Mrs. Smith, both widowed very young, that such a situation leaves the women vulnerable and leads to some difficult choices for them.
And Anne says that she considered it a duty to Lady Russel who she considered a mother figure, to listen to her advice in that matter. She did not regret being persuaded in that case. Anne tells Wentworth "I was perfectly right in being guided" by Lady Russell "to me, she was in the place of a parent. I am not saying that she did not err in her advice." Only that "I was right in submitting to her, and that if I had done otherwise I should have suffered more in continuing the engagement than I did even in giving it up because I should have suffered in my conscience. I have now, as far as such a sentiment is allowable in human nature, nothing to reproach myself with; and if I mistake not, a strong sense of duty is no bad part of a woman's portion".
Being persuaded not to accept Captain Wentworth before he had made any money was a wise decision at the moment that is was made at the behest of a person she considered a mother figure. She regretted that it had kept them apart after Frederick had returned with money and a promising future in the navy, but not that she had been persuaded those eight and half years ago. The reason this novel feels like it has a more adult perspective is because it is many ways concerned with analysing past choices and learning from previous mistakes, a thing all adults must do to grow. It is possible to look back and think that a decision was the right one at the time but also regret what it's current consequences are. To be able to say you were glad that you were guided by your parent figure, Lady Russel, but also that you know her advice was wrong. And to blame neither yourself nor her. That's a very difficult thing to do but is a part of having an older perspective on life.
Persuasion vs. Pride/Stubbornness
As with all Jane Austen novels, this story has a subtlety and a nuance that I love. It does not advocate for anyone to constantly be persuaded out of the things they want and should do, nor to be incapable of being persuaded to do the right things against what your current desires may be. Jane Austen, this story demands that a balance of these qualities is necessary.
Captain Wentworth almost loses Anne because his hurt pride leads him to stubbornly not reach out to her when he returns that first year with money enough to keep her. After they have finally reconnected at the end of the book he admits to her that it was pride that had prevented him from writing to her when he had a few thousand pounds a ship under his command. They both realize they could have avoided the last few years of misery and separation if he had done so.
Captain Wentworth nearly loses Anne again when his pride, still hurt, eight and half years later, leads him to court Louisa. He only learns his lesson when, at Lyme, he realizes that Louisa and her whole family are expecting him to offer Louisa marriage as soon as she is well. He says he removes himself from Lyme to allow her to heal and lessen her attachment as much as is honourable. But he was willing to marry her against his wishes because it was the right thing to do. If the whole family expects an engagement, he is toying with Louisa's reputation and that is unpardonable because it could affect her chances for a happy future. The moment he realizes he must balance his desires against the realities of his actions is the moment he grows as a character. Luckily, Louisa and Captain Benwick become attached during her recovery and Frederick is free to pursue Anne as he wishes, swallow his pride, and come to find her in Bath.
Anne and Henrietta show different sides of the same decision. Henrietta was almost persuaded by Mary's nonsense that she shouldn't marry Henry Hayter. Jane Austen sets this up as an example of being too weak-willed and gentle. She is not being persuaded against Henry Hayter for good and logical reasons. Henrietta is being persuaded out of Mary's unreasonable dislike of him, and a foolish desire to continue flirting and being flattered with Captain Wentworth who is so dashing and charming and new. She ought to have stuck to her purpose when there was no logical reason to be persuaded otherwise. She learns this in time to win back her intended. Then there is Louisa who is a foil to Anne. She is too stubborn and heedless to be persuaded of anything. This is a character trait that first attracts Captain Wentworth who is trying to forget Anne by courting someone completely unlike her. Louisa who is too stubborn to even see reason (let alone propriety and duty) ends up unconscious on a pier, nearly dead because of it.
For Anne, being persuaded to give up Frederick at 19, was the right choice. However, when they meet again, she is too proud to express her feelings, as is he and they suffer through a few more things before it all works out in the end.
Finding the Balance
When Anne and Captain Wentworth are reconciled and together at the end of the book he tells her how he finally had begun to see Anne's true character at Lyme when he had occasion to witness what being far too stubborn could be dangerous. Captain Wentworth describes Anne as being the "loveliest medium of fortitude and gentleness" At Lyme, he says he had "learnt to distinguish between the steadiness of principle and the obstinacy of self-will, between darings of heedlessness and the resolution of a collected mind. There he had seen everything to exalt in his estimation the woman he had lost; and there begun to deplore the pride, the folly, the madness of resentment, which had kept him from trying to regain her when thrown in his way." Anne was in that elusive middle ground between firmness of character and capable of being guided.
Jane Austen urges us to consider that it is the middle ground that is ideal. Being capable of sticking to your purpose but also knowing when logic must prevail over feelings. Having both learned their lessons, Anne and Wentworth are now adults who have addressed some of their flaws and are ready to enter into a healthy relationship. Anne learned that she must be more firm in her purpose now that she is an adult and refuses to be persuaded into marrying Mr. Elliot or from canceling her plans to visit Mrs. Smith for an impromptu visit of the Dalrymples. Captain Wentworth learned that his pride and stubbornness were preventing him from being happy and he learns to act less on his surface emotions and more on rational plans to pursue his own real happiness. Jane Austen argues the couple is happier for being reunited, "more tender, more tried, more fixed in a knowledge of each other's character, truth, and attachment; more equal to act, more justified in acting." We know that Anne and Frederick have grown as people and will have a very happy marriage indeed.
More Jane Austen Please!
If you are interested in more discussion of Jane Austen, I have more for you.
For a start, you can see my ranking of every movie adaptation of Persuasion on this page
here.
And if that's not enough don't worry you can see my discussions of the movie adaptations of all the other Jane Austen novels and even, a mad attempt at ranking them all together. Why did I do this? I think I must be crazy. Oh wait, we already knew this. Anyway...
To see my ranking of Every Jane Austen Adaptation, go
here.
To see my ranking of all the Pride and Prejudice adaptations you can go
here.
To see my ranking of all the Emma Adaptations you can go
here.
To see my ranking of all the Sense and Sensibility adaptations you can go
here.
To see my ranking of all the Mansfield Park Adaptations you can go
here.
To see my ranking of all the Northanger Abbey Adaptations you can go
here.
For my discussion of the Lady Susan Adaptation (Love and Friendship), you can go
here.
To see my ranking of all the "Not-Quite-Austen's" you can go
here.
I have a whole page dedicated to Jane Austen where you can find my rankings of different movie adaptations and essays etc.
