A Summary of Persuasion & Themes
The book Persuasion was published after Jane Austen's death at the age of 41. It is quite possible that she never had a chance to revise the book, and this can be noticed by several sentences that have odd sentence structure. Despite its perhaps unfinished appearance in terms of grammar, Persuasion is a remarkable novel that deals with the pains of two lovers.
The main character Anne Elliot, is the second daughter born to Sir Walter Elliot, a baronet, and is 27 years old, and considered by some to be a spinster. She is past her years of youthful beauty. But when she was 19 years old, she fell in love with Fredrick Wentworth, and was soon engaged even after a very brief acquaintance. Fredrick Wentworth was a gentleman by nature but his low status and lack of fortune was not enough to provide for Anne in the minds of Sir Walter Elliot and Lady Russell, a good friend of Anne's deceased mother. Lady Russell managed to persuade (hence the name of the book) Anne to break off the engagement. Wentworth, saddened by this, left Kellynch for the Navy.
8 years since those events occurred, Anne is still much in love with Frank Wentworth, and has not been able to love any other.
Sir Walter was a man of great vanity, and with vanity comes an ego that has large spending habits. He spent beyond his means for extravagance to impress those among him. Because of this, he encountered severe financial problems, and was forced to find a way to solve those debts. With the advice of Lady Russell and Mr. Shepherd, (a lawyer and friend to the family) and Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of Sir Walter, and Sir Walter make the decision to let or or rent the estate of Kellynch Hall.
It so happened that the new tenants, Admiral Croft and Mrs. Croft, were related to Frederick Wentworth. Mrs. Croft was the sister of Frederick. This happening would eventually bring Wentworth back to Anne's social circle. He was also now a captain in the navy, rich with rewards from battle, and extremely marriageable!
Elizabeth and Sir Walter resorted then to moving to Bath, and Anne decided to stay for a few months part time with both Lady Russell and her younger married sister, Mary Musgrove, because she disliked Bath. Elizabeth and Sir Walter were indifferent to this decision, and actually rather okay with this, because they did not value Anne's presence that much.
When Anne learns that Captain Wentworth will be coming to the area, she is quite frightened about meeting him because she still loves him, and is afraid she cannot 'cover' her true feelings toward him. She was also afraid of how he would treat her.
Captain Wentworth comes to visit his sister at Kellynch Hall, and she is forced to meet him. She finds that he ignores her whenever possible, excepting common courtesies. Wentworth seems emotionally 'cool' towards her, because he was still angry after 8 years that she had rejected him.
The people of Anne's "class" appeared to spend their time mostly socializing with each other. Therefore there was a lot of contact between the families, and at parties for socialization, Henrietta and Louisa Musgrove became very interested in Captain Wentworth, and both started flirting with him. This caused Anne tremendous emotional pain to watch them flirt with Wentworth, because she still loved him greatly. Yet, she had no way of knowing if he still loved her or who it was that he preferred among Louisa and Henrietta.
This continues for quite some time, until a tragic turn of events changes the relationships between the characters in the book. A new man of interest also appears in Anne's life, her father's cousin and heir to Kellynch Hall, Mr. William Elliot.
All the 'young people' were site seeing in the town of Lyme, and while trying to get down the high part of Cobb, Louisa decided to foolishly jump off the steps. She had Captain Wentworth catch her the first time, and wanted to jump a second time. That time though, she jumped too soon and fell. She appeared lifeless to the party, and most thought her dead, because she wasn't breathing. Anne was quick to take action and had Captain Benwick leave to find a surgeon. Louisa was then brought to the inn where they had been staying, and she recovers slowly from the severe concussion. (She stayed at the inn for weeks.) Captain Benwick cares for her, and they then fall in love and get married.
This is when Captain Wentworth begins feeling admiration towards Anne again. At the same time, Mr. William Elliot tries to flatter and pursue Anne. (This makes Wentworth eventually jealous of Mr. William Elliot.)
At first, Anne likes Mr. William Elliot to a degree, but she has some hesitation. She is flattered by William's attention towards her. A childhood friend who lived in Bath, who had recently been reacquainted with her, sets her straight about Mr. William Elliot's real motives and character, which were far from flattering. Anne quickly rebukes any notion of affection towards him.
Louisa is to be married to Captain Benwick, and Henrietta to Charles Hayter, her former beau. Therefore, a trip is arranged to Bath to get ready for their weddings. Captain Wentworth is with them, as well as Anne. Anne has a discussion with Captain Harville about how men get over relationships faster than women, which Captain Wentworth overhears. This prompts him to write a letter to Anne, professing his feelings toward her and how he has not yet gotten over his love for her. She accepts his proposal full heartedly and they live happily ever after. :)
There are numerous themes in Persuasion, but a large theme is the ever powerful struggle of trying to find love. Persuasion is undoubtedly a love story about people trying to figure who they are, and who they should be with. At the same time, society creates hard standards that limits the people of those times to very few options, if one focuses only on rank and fortune. Love was not a priority at that time, and could be considered third in importance. It was quite dangerous for a person to fall in love, because they had to make sure they were proper to marry. If they unfortunately did love someone unsuitable, they would have to face the pain of ending the relationship due to difference in status.
Persuasion is not so light hearted as Austen's other tales such as Emma, but displays vividly the values of people in the past. Even so, it is a remarkable book that Jane Austen has created with much detail and information, that takes a lot of time to understand. It is no wonder why Persuasion is considered to be a classic to be read for generations.
Characters of Persuasion (in no particular order)
Anne Elliot: Educated, beautiful, and with a sweet character, she is the second oldest of Sir Walter Elliot's daughters. But she is easily the least respected and admired among the three. Like the book describes her, "her words had no weight." People less vain and more respectable than Sir Walter and Elizabeth value her though, such as Lady Russell, Mrs. Smith, and of course, Captain Wentworth. Though she had a sweet demeanor, she was easily persuadable, hence the book's title, and was convinced by Lady Russell to break up the engagement with Captain Wentworth, roughly eight years prior to the start of the book. Despite the separation from Captain Wentworth, she continued to love him even until he had returned to the Kellynch area. When he did return, she kept her feelings of love to him a secret, as did he, until the end of the book where they reconcile.
Captain Frederick Wentworth: The sister to Sophia Croft, he is very handsome, polite, and appropriate in his manners. 8 years before the start of the book, he met Anne briefly and they fell madly in love with each other. He quickly proposed, but because he lacked fortune and status, Sir Walter Elliot and Lady Russell greatly disapproved the engagement, and Lady Russell convinced Anne to discontinue the engagement. But after returning from the Napoleonic Wars with rewards from his deeds that are worth millions in today's currency, many woman found him very suitable for marriage.
Sir Walter Elliot: A *baronet, Sir Walter Elliot is proud of his rank. There is no other book than the Baronetage that he will read. (A book that shows all of the baronets and their children.) He is extremely vain, proud, and spends numerous amounts of money to 'live up to' his rank. But he spends past his means and this causes the family to be in debt, and he is forced to **let out the estate of Kellynch Hall to Admiral Croft. Like Elizabeth, he does not respect Anne the same way he values Elizabeth. This favoritism is quite apparent and Lady Russell feels sorry for Anne. Sir Walter wants to associate with people of rank higher or equal to his, such as why he was happy to visit Lady Dalrymple, a viscountess, in public places.
*Baronet is actually a rank itself that is above a knight and below a baron.
**A term used by Jane that pretty much means rent.
Lady Elliot: The deceased wife of Sir Walter Elliot, and the mother of Anne, Elizabeth, and Mary. She also had a still-born son but he was not named. She was known to be quite sensible and amiable, and was great friends with Lady Russell.
Elizabeth Elliot: Nine-and-twenty years old, Elizabeth quickly took over the role of her mother after her death. Elizabeth is unmarried and does not marry in the book. She is much like her father in the aspects of vanity and extravagance. Elizabeth never considers Anne's opinions, and often is the decision maker when it comes to Kellynch Hall. She is favored the most by her father, because he feels that Mary did not mary well enough, and Anne is destined to be a spinster because her beauty is now past "the bloom of youth" at 27. Elizabeth, on the other hand, is thought to be a special case by her father, for he feels her to still be in "blossom," even at the age of 29.
Mrs. Musgrove: Named Mary Elliot before marrying Charles Musgrove, she is the youngest of Sir Walter Elliot's daughters. Often times depressed, Mary always fancies herself ill, but the moment Anne comes to visit, she quickly 'recovers.' Anne considers her to be much more sisterly than Elizabeth, and therefore does not find her unbearable. Mary and her family are always looking for gifts from her father, but whenever they do not receive any, they are disappointed. (Since Sir Walter Elliot is one not to blink an eye at expenses.)
Henrietta Musgrove: The sister to Louisa and Charles Musgrove, she was informally engaged to Charles Hayter. When Captain Wentworth arrived in the social scene, Louisa and Henrietta were quick to flirt with him. They admired him greatly, and she ignored her previous engagement during this time. Though by the end of the novel she does end up marrying Charles Hayter, despite the effects of Captain Wentworth.
Louisa Musgrove: Sister to Henrietta and Charles Musgrove, she adores Captain Wentworth upon his arrival. Captain Wentworth flirts with her, but because of her strong headed personality, she is involved in a terrible accident. She was jumping on some rocks near a cliff, and expecting Captain Wentworth to catch her for a second time, she jumped too soon. It was presumed that she was dead at first, but she managed to survive. Anne shows determination in helping Louisa and Captain Wentworth then realizes his love for Anne. Louisa, on the other hand soon marries Captain Benwick because of their similar personalities.
Mrs. Smith: A great friend and advisor to Anne, Mrs. Smith became acquainted with her, after Anne's mother died when Anne was about 14 years old. They had been in school together and because she was older and wiser, she was a comfort to Anne. She moved away due to her marriage, and returned years later to Bath, poor and a widower and therefore was forced to move into an undesirable neighborhood in Bath. She shows Anne the true character of William Elliot and how he is a corrupt social climber.
Mr. William Elliot: A cousin of Anne's father, he is the *heir presumptive of Kellynch Hall and its fortunes. He was expected to marry Elizabeth, but instead went and married another woman who was rich but of poor social status and was ostracized from the family for rejecting Elizabeth. He then became a widower and returns to the Elliots. Because he wants to ensure his inheritance, he vies for Anne's attentions because that union would assure him of Kellynch Hall. She for a small time enjoys his flattery, but after Mrs. Smith tells about his character, Anne realizes his true intentions and quickly dismisses him. Though by the end of the book, he is still the heir to Kellynch Hall.
*This term means he is the expected heir because Sir Walter Elliot failed to have any sons. Because an heir could never be a woman, if a family did not have any sons, they would have to find a male of closest relation to their family to inherit the estate. In this case, it is Mr. William Elliot.
Admiral Croft & Mrs. Croft: The Crofts hosted many parties, renting Kellynch Hall from Sir Walter Elliot, and took proper care of the estate. Sophia Croft is the family tie that causes Wentworth to return to Anne's community, because she is his sister.
Lady Russell: The dear friend of the deceased Lady Elliot, she is now a family friend to the Elliots, and often gives them advice. Out of Sir Walter's three daughters, she enjoys Anne the most because of her smart and sensible nature. Though Lady Russell is a kind lady, she often has prejudices about people based on their class and wealth. This is why she convinces Anne to stop the engagement to Captain Wentworth. She also tries to convince Anne to accept any possible proposal that Mr. William Elliot may ask to her, but Anne finds out his true nature of deceit and does not listen. By the end of the book though, they are still good friends and she approves of the marriage to Captain Wentworth.