Persuasion by Jane Austen

First published: 1818

Type of work: Novel

Type of plot: Domestic realism

Time of plot: Early nineteenth century

Locale: Somersetshire and Bath, England

Principal characters

• Sir Walter Elliot, the owner of Kellynch Hall
• Elizabeth Elliot, his oldest daughter
• Anne Elliot, his second daughter
• Mary Musgrove, his youngest daughter
• Charles Musgrove, her husband
• Henrietta and Louisa, Charles Musgrove’s sisters
• Captain Frederick Wentworth, a naval officer
• Mrs. Clay, Elizabeth Elliot’s friend
• William Elliot, Sir Walter’s cousin and heir to Kellynch Hall

The Story:

Sir Walter Elliot is a conceited man, vain of both his good looks and his title. He lives at his country seat, Kellynch Hall, with two of his daughters, Elizabeth and Anne. Elizabeth, handsome and much like her father, is the oldest and her father’s favorite. Anne, sweet, self-effacing, and quietly intelligent, is ignored and underrated by both. Mary, the youngest daughter, is married to an agreeable young man named Charles Musgrove; they live in an untidy house at Uppercross, three miles from Kellynch Hall.

Living beyond his means had brought financial disaster to Sir Walter. On the advice of his solicitor and of a family friend, Lady Russell, he is persuaded to rent Kellynch Hall and take a smaller house in Bath. Anne would have preferred to take a modest house near home, but as usual, her father and sister have their way in the matter.

Reluctantly, Sir Walter lets his beloved country seat to Admiral Croft and his wife, who is the sister of a former suitor of Anne, Captain Frederick Wentworth. Anne and Captain Wentworth had fallen in love when they were both very young, but the match had been discouraged. Anne’s father felt that the young man’s family was not good enough for his own, and Lady Russell considered the engagement unwise because Captain Wentworth had no financial means beyond his navy pay. Anne had followed their advice and broken the engagement, but Wentworth had advanced and became rich in the navy, just as he had said he would. Anne, now twenty-seven years old, has not forgotten her love at age nineteen, and no one else has taken Captain Wentworth’s place in her affection.

With all arrangements completed for the renting of Kellynch Hall, Sir Walter, Elizabeth, and her friend, Mrs. Clay, are off to Bath. Before they depart, Anne warns Elizabeth that Mrs. Clay’s is not a disinterested friendship and that she is scheming to marry Sir Walter if she can. Elizabeth will not believe such an idea, nor will she agree to dismiss Mrs. Clay.

Anne is to divide her time between her married sister, Mary Musgrove, and Lady Russell until Christmas. Mary and her family also live near her husband’s father and mother and their two daughters, Henrietta and Louisa. During her visit to the Musgroves, Anne meets Captain Wentworth again while he is staying with his sister at Kellynch Hall. She finds him little changed in eight years.

Because the Musgroves take the Crofts and Captain Wentworth into their circle immediately, the captain and Anne meet frequently. He is coldly polite to Anne, but his attentions to the Musgrove sisters lead Mary to begin matchmaking. She cannot decide, however, whether he prefers Henrietta or Louisa. When Louisa encourages Henrietta to resume a former romance with a cousin, Charles Hayter, it seems plain that Louisa is destined for Captain Wentworth.

Further events increase the likelihood of such a match. During a visit to friends of Captain Wentworth at Lyme Regis, Louisa suffers an injury while the captain is assisting her in jumping down a steep flight of steps. The accident is not his fault, for he had cautioned Louisa against jumping, but he blames himself for not refusing her firmly. Louisa is taken to the home of Captain Wentworth’s friends, Captain and Mrs. Harville and Captain Benwick. Quiet, practical, and capable during the emergency, Anne has the pleasure of knowing that Captain Wentworth relies on her strength and good judgment, but she feels that a match between him and the slowly recovering Louisa is certain.

Anne reluctantly joins her family and the designing Mrs. Clay at Bath. She is surprised to find that they are glad to see her. After showing her the house, they tell her the news—mainly how much in demand they are and about the presence of a cousin, Mr. William Elliot, who suddenly appeared to make his peace with the family. Mr. Elliot is the heir to Sir Walter’s title and estate, but he had become estranged from the family years before because he did not marry Elizabeth, as Sir Walter and Elizabeth felt he should have. Also, he had affronted Sir Walter’s pride by speaking disrespectfully of his Kellynch connections.

Now, however, these matters are explained away, and both Sir Walter and Elizabeth are charmed with him. Anne, who had seen Mr. Elliot at Lyme Regis, wonders why he chose to renew a relationship so long neglected. She thinks it might be that he is thinking of marrying Elizabeth, now that his first wife is dead; Lady Russell thinks Anne is the attraction.

News shortly arrives of Louisa Musgrove’s engagement to Captain Benwick. Joy, surprise, and a hope that Captain Wentworth has lost his partiality for Louisa are mingled in Anne’s first reaction. Shortly after Anne hears the news, Captain Wentworth arrives in Bath. After a few meetings, Anne knows that he has not forgotten her. She also knows that he is jealous of Mr. Elliot, although his jealousy is groundless.

Even if Anne feels any inclination to become Lady Elliot, the ambition is short-lived, for Mr. Elliot’s true character now comes to light. Anne learns from a former schoolmate, who had been friendly with Mr. Elliot before he basely ruined her husband, that his first design in renewing acquaintance with Sir Walter’s family was to prevent Sir Walter from marrying Mrs. Clay and thus having a son who would inherit the title and estate. Later, when he met Anne, he had been genuinely attracted to her. This information is not news to Anne, since Mr. Elliot had proposed to her at a concert the night before. She gives him no encouragement.

Convinced that Anne still loves him as he does her, Captain Wentworth pours out his heart to her in a letter. Soon all is settled happily between them. Both Musgrove girls are also married shortly afterward, but, much to Mary’s satisfaction, neither of their husbands is as rich as Wentworth. Mrs. Clay, sacrificing ambition for love, leaves Bath with Mr. William Elliot and lives under his protection in London. Perhaps she hopes some day to be Lady Elliot, though as the wife of a different baronet.

Bibliography

Bloom, Harold, ed. Jane Austen’s “Persuasion.” Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2004. Collection of essays providing various interpretations of Persuasion, including discussions of the character Anne Elliott and the “radical pessimism,” satire, sensibility, and innovation in the novel.

Copeland, Edward, and Juliet McMaster, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997. One essay in this excellent overview focuses on an analysis of Persuasion, Emma, and Mansfield Park, while other essays deal with broad issues, such as class consciousness, religion, and domestic economy in Austen’s works. Includes a chronology and an assessment of late twentieth century developments in Austen scholarship.

Dwyer, June. Jane Austen. New York: Continuum, 1989. Dwyer offers readings of each of Austen’s major novels, including Persuasion, and in separate chapters discusses the writer’s life and her literary techniques and concerns.

Gard, Robert. Jane Austen’s Novels: The Art of Clarity. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1992. Gard writes what he calls a corrective to criticism that has moved readers too far from the texts of Austen’s novels into theoretical concerns. His chapter on Persuasion discusses Austen’s mature abilities as a novelist.

Harris, Jocelyn. A Revolution Almost Beyond Expression: Jane Austen’s “Persuasion.” Newark: University of Delaware Press, 2007. Harris analyzes the novel within its political, historical, satiric, and sexual contexts, concluding that Austen was “outward-looking, intertextually aware, self-conscious, [and] even revolutionary.”

Kirkham, Margaret. Jane Austen, Feminism, and Fiction. Totowa, N.J.: Barnes & Noble, 1983. Kirkham places Austen’s work within the feminist tradition, arguing that the writer’s concerns are those of her feminist contemporaries. She includes a chapter on eighteenth century feminism. The chapter on Persuasion demonstrates how Austen uses the novel as a feminist critique of society.

Lambdin, Laura Cooner, and Robert Thomas Lambdin, eds. A Companion to Jane Austen Studies. New York: Greenwood Press, 2000. Twenty-two essays interpret Austen’s works, including Persuasion: “Persuasion’s Box of Contradictions” by Claudia Stein and “Degrees of Maturity: The Bibliographic History of Jane Austen’s Persuasion” by Laura Cooner Lambdin and Robert Thomas Lambdin.

Paris, Bernard J. Character and Conflict in Jane Austen’s Novels: A Psychological Approach. Detroit, Mich.: Wayne State University Press, 1978. Analyzes the characters Anne and Wentworth, and makes a case for Persuasion as Austen’s most romantic novel. Evaluates the roles played in the novel by such secondary characters as Lady Russell, Mrs. Musgrove, and Mrs. Croft.

Scott, P. J. M. Jane Austen: A Reassessment. Totowa, N.J.: Barnes & Noble, 1982. Contains a full assessment of Persuasion, which the author considers the culmination of Austen’s work. Examines the egotism and idleness of the entire Elliot family, except Anne.

Thompson, James. Between Self and World: The Novels of Jane Austen. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1988. Considers late eighteenth century views of courtship and marriage in Austen’s novels. Shows Persuasion’s place in the Austen canon that, as a whole, revolves around reading or interpreting the sentiments of others.