Book Review: “Persuasion” by Jane Austen
Summary: Anne Elliot is the daughter of a minor English nobleman, a baronet. Her mother died when she was young, and a family friend, Lady Russell has become the nearest thing Anna has to a mother– her advisor and advocate. Her father and her older sister, Elizabeth are both vain, insufferable snobs, who have damaged the family’s fortune by wasting a great deal of money to keep up appearances. Anne falls in love with Fredrick Wentworth, and they hope to marry, but she is persuaded to reject him by Lady Russell because he is too poor.
Wentworth is heartbroken, joins the Navy, and leaves, presumably forever. Anne, who deeply regrets her decision, is shamefully neglected by her family, and is apparently left to her fate as a “spinster.”
Eight years after their relationship is broken off, Frederick Wentworth returns to the area, now as Captain Wentworth, a rich and highly eligible bachelor who is pursued vigorously by the local ladies. Anne, meanwhile, is being courted by a cousin of her father’s, Mr. Elliot. She doesn’t like Mr. Elliot very much and doesn’t trust him at all, but people, seeing them together, assume that it is a natural match and expect them to marry.
The main action of the novel revolves around Wentworth’s return, its effect on Anne, and whether or not they will find each other again now that he has become a more acceptable suitor and she has matured enough to make up her own mind.
Analysis: Marriage is the theme of this novel, as it is with all of Austen’s novels. but modern readers might want to remember that in English society in Austen’s era, marriage was about much more than it is today. Marriage was the vehicle for people, particularly women who weren’t in high social positions, to advance their station in life. Marriage was more like a business deal or a treaty between nations, than a formalization of romantic relations. This is not to suggest that love isn’t a major factor in Austen’s fictional world, far from it. But it behooves us to remember that there is more at stake in these marital arrangements in her stories than we attach to modern stories of love and marriage. As in all of her books, in Persuasion Austen does a masterful job of drawing the various characters involved, and introduces more and more complexity into the plot with misunderstandings and entanglements, and deceptions. Our heroine is imperiled and saved from the prospect of a loveless and unhappy marriage to Mr. Elliot. But Persuasion isn’t as well told a tale as other Jane Austen novels. The overall plot seemed a little transparent to me as a reader. The heroes and villains were too easy to spot and tag, and the conclusion of the drama seemed obvious from early on in the narrative. Also, aside from Anne’s sister Mary, who is a very funny character, and has several speeches that show how totally self-absorbed and silly she is, there is an overall absence of humor in this story that I find strange.
Recommendation: Like the other Jane Austen novels, this book is filled with rich insights into the human condition. The writing is absolutely top-notch, with the sort of beautiful phrasing that very few writers in our language can rival. I recommend this book to anyone who likes Austen’s other stories, or fiction of this period. It is the work of a brilliant novelist, no disputing that fact. But, it’s definitely not my favorite of her works. If you haven’t read Austen before, don’t start with this one. I’d point the newbie to Northanger Abbey.
