Writing Elsewhere I have written for The Critic about why John Nash is overrated, and what London was like the day after Elizabeth II died. The obvious question about Persuasion is why it opens the way it does. This is supposed to be a romance. But the first pages (and chapters) are about the Baronetage, the genealogical record of one of Britain’s lowest aristocratic ranks, and the vanity of Sir Walter Elliot and his family. Anne, his middle daughter, who is supposed to be the romantic heroine, appears briefly in the Elliot entry in the baronetage, and then not again until the third page. Then it is said she “was nobody with either father or sister; her word had no weight, her convenience was always to give way—she was only Anne.”
This is a wonderful interpretation. It is my favourite of all her novels, being set in Somerset where I live. Austen layered all her novels with themes and ideas which are still relevant today. She liked to show us the good and the bad in marriages and the Admiral and Mrs Croft are a precursor to the happy marriage that awaits Anne and Frederick. The emergence of a new monied class following the war is important for Anne so that she can move away from her trivial family. I like her reflection about the Harvilles, that these could have been my friends. With Benwick, we also learn that intelligent women like Anne can have fulfilling intellectual relationships with men as equals.
A few years ago,I adapted this novel with the help of my late partner into a stage play, alas yet to be performed. Your article has inspired me to revisit it through the lens of consequence. I feel another reading coming on as well as another visit to the Cobb at Lyme where Louisa fell.
Loved this, very thoughtful
This is a wonderful interpretation. It is my favourite of all her novels, being set in Somerset where I live. Austen layered all her novels with themes and ideas which are still relevant today. She liked to show us the good and the bad in marriages and the Admiral and Mrs Croft are a precursor to the happy marriage that awaits Anne and Frederick. The emergence of a new monied class following the war is important for Anne so that she can move away from her trivial family. I like her reflection about the Harvilles, that these could have been my friends. With Benwick, we also learn that intelligent women like Anne can have fulfilling intellectual relationships with men as equals.
A few years ago,I adapted this novel with the help of my late partner into a stage play, alas yet to be performed. Your article has inspired me to revisit it through the lens of consequence. I feel another reading coming on as well as another visit to the Cobb at Lyme where Louisa fell.
Thank you.