Persuasion

“In fact, as I have long been convinced, though every profession is necessary and honourable in its turn, it is only the lot of those who are not obliged to follow any, who can live in a regular way, in the country, choosing their own hours, following their own pursuits, and living on their own property, without the torment of trying for more; it is only their lot, I say, to hold the blessing of health and good appearance to the utmost.”

Classism and pride motivate Mrs. Clay’s words to Sir Walter here, which argue that only aristocratic men who do not need to work live a leisurely, desirable, and superior life. This quote evinces Mrs. Clay’s talents for flattery, as she attempts to ingratiate herself and attain the same kind of leisurely life for herself.

“Half the sum of attraction, on either side, might have been enough, for he had nothing to do, and she had hardly any body to love; but the encounter of such lavish recommendations could not fail.”

Anne and Frederick Wentworth’s initial feelings for each other developed out of genuine attachment to the other’s character, and they were both ready to devote themselves to love. Their eagerness as young lovers was supported by true knowledge and understanding of the other, rather than social preoccupations.

“She had been forced into prudence in her youth, she learned romance as she grew older—the natural sequel of an unnatural beginning.”

Anne reflects on the mistake she made in allowing herself to be persuaded to end her relationship with Captain Wentworth in 1806. Her decision was based on Lady Russell’s pridefulness and desire to find Anne a more influential husband. Anne now follows Captain Wentworth’s career in the newspapers and wonders how her life might change if she had hope.

“She believed she must now submit to feel that another lesson, in the art of knowing our own nothingness beyond our own circle, was become necessary for her.”

When Anne stays at Uppercross Cottage for two months, she begins to realize the narrowmindedness of her immediate family and the necessity that she socialize with other sets of people. The pride so instilled in her from her father and Lady Russell begins to crack, and Anne gathers the strength to express her individuality.

“Anne hoped she had outlived the age of blushing; but the age of emotion she certainly had not.”

As Anne prepares to see Captain Wentworth again, she attempts to keep her past with him completely secret. She is able to hide her emotions more effectively then she had when she was nineteen, but finds that those emotions have not gone away completely.

“Had he wished ever to see her again, he need not have waited till this time; he would have done what she could not but believe that in his place she should have done long ago, when events had been early giving him the independence which alone had been wanting.”

Anne believes that, once Wentworth had attained the wealth necessary to support her lifestyle and family’s expectations, he would have found her again if he truly cared for her. As he didn’t, Anne believes him to be completely indifferent to her. Only later will Wentworth admit it was his pride and not his indifference that prevented their reconciliation.

“Alas! With all her reasoning, she found, that to retentive feelings eight years may be little more than nothing.”

When Anne and Captain Wentworth finally meet again after almost eight years, Anne is overcome with emotion. She discovers that their time apart has done nothing to temper her love or respect for Captain Wentworth.

“But I hate to hear you talking so, like a fine gentleman, and as if women were all fine ladies, instead of rational creatures. We none of us expect to be in smooth water all our days.”

Spoken by Mrs. Croft in response to Captain Wentworth’s distaste for conveying women aboard his ship, this quote not only asks why Wentworth should try to put on the airs of a gentlemen but also why he should suspect all women to be similarly high maintenance. Mrs. Croft dissembles gender expectations and declares that women enjoy a degree of adventure in their lives.

“Though condemning her for the past, and considering it with high and unjust resentment, though perfectly careless of her, and though becoming attached to another, still he could not see her suffer, without the desire of giving her relief.”

After Wentworth arranges for Anne to be conveyed back to Uppercross Cottage in his sister’s gig, Anne’s emotions become confused by hope and apprehension. Though Wentworth doesn’t outwardly acknowledge any warm feelings to her, his actions speak otherwise. He is the only one to single Anne out of the group and show concern for her well-being.

“Allowances, large allowances, she knew, must be made for the ideas of those who spoke. She heard it all under embellishment.”

As Anne listens to her family’s praises of Mr. Elliot, she keeps a skeptical mind. She has learned to take her family’s prideful and self-centered opinions with a grain of salt; she notes that her father and sister are enamored with Mr. Elliot but resolves to form an opinion of her own rather than be persuaded by their enthusiasm as she might have been persuaded at a younger age.

“The idea of becoming what her mother had been; of having the precious name of ‘Lady Elliot’ first revived in herself; of being restored to Kellynch, calling it her home again, her home for ever, was a charm which she could not immediately resist.”

Under Lady Russell’s suggestion, Anne considers what marrying Mr. Elliot would mean for her future. Anne cannot deny that it might be worth marrying Mr. Elliot just to be like her mother. Ultimately, though, Anne is not persuaded by this vision and stands firmly in her own emotions.

“She felt that she could so much more depend upon the sincerity of those who sometimes looked or said a careless or a hasty thing, than of those whose presence of mind never varied, whose tongue never slipped.”

Unlike her family, Anne does not value proper manners over true sincerity of character. Though Mr. Elliot has convinced the rest that he is worthy of admiration, Anne sees through his secretive and too-polished behavior.

“She left her seat, she would go, one half of her should not be always so much wiser than the other half, or always suspecting the other of being worse than it was.”

In Bath, Anne sees Captain Wentworth outside a shop. Rather than hiding from him out of embarrassment or insecurity, Anne moves decisively to the door so that she can talk to him when he enters. This signifies the growing confidence and agency in Anne’s character.

“A man does not recover from such a devotion of the heart to such a woman! He ought not—he does not.”

Captain Wentworth says this to Anne as they discuss how quickly Benwick has moved on after his fiancée’s death. In this statement, he reveals his own tendency toward constancy, which gives Anne hope that she may still have a chance to marry him.

“She could not contemplate the change as implying less.—He must love her.”

After talking with Wentworth at the concert, Anne begins to hope that he may still love her despite their painful history. She draws hope from his behavior and choice of conversation topic, as they suggest he is no longer angry at the past but instead looking to reconcile with her. Far from her initial fear of Wentworth’s indifference, Anne’s confidence allows her to recognize his affection.

“She did not mean, whatever she might feel on Lady Russell’s account, to shrink from conversation with Captain Wentworth, if he gave her the opportunity.”

At the concert, Anne shows how her confidence and independence have grown since she last knew Captain Wentworth by not caring what her family may think of her actions. She is determined to, at the very least, speak with the man she loves regardless of whether her family is too proud to accept him.

“Till it does come, you know, we women never mean to have any body. It is a thing of course among us, that every man is refused—till he offers.”

Mrs. Smith attempts to get Anne to confess to her rumored engagement to Mr. Elliot. Mrs. Smith’s words reflect the greater tendency toward discretion expected of women in society. By not showing preference for one man over another, society women retain some power over their decision to marry as well as keeping their options open for better offers that may present themselves.

“There was no delay, no waste of time. She was deep in the happiness of such misery, or the misery of such happiness, instantly.”

As Anne and Wentworth spend more time together in Bath, Anne is both happy and agitated to be so near Wentworth. She enjoys the attention she is getting from him but struggles to suppress her excitement and behave with propriety; she is anxious for an outward sign from him that his feelings for her have remained constant through the years.

“We certainly do not forget you, so soon as you forget us. It is, perhaps, our fate rather than our merit. We cannot help ourselves. We live at home, quiet, confined, and our feelings prey upon us. You are forced on exertion. You have always a profession, pursuits, business of some sort or other, to take you back into the world immediately, and continual occupation and change soon weaken impressions.”

When discussing constancy with Captain Harville, Anne makes this statement about the secluded fate of middle-class women. Anne argues that without work or the ability to move independently in the world, many women hold on to their emotional attachments with more vigor than men do, who have ample things to soothe and distract them.

“Men have the advantage of us in telling their own story. Education has been theirs in so much higher a degree; the pen has been in their hands. I will not allow books to prove anything.”

Anne refutes Harville’s claim that the fickleness of women is amply supported by literary examples. Anne argues that many of these examples were written by men and therefore fail to adequately consider a woman’s emotions and situation. She acknowledges the advantages of education and opportunity to write that men of Austen’s time have above women.

“If I was wrong in yielding to persuasion once, remember that it was to persuasion exerted on the side of safety, not of risk.”

Anne says this to Wentworth during their reconciliation. She claims that persuasion is not inherently bad and can sometimes come from good intentions. She acknowledges her determination not to be blamed for being persuaded by Lady Russell when a young girl, implying that it proves her level-headedness more than it suggests inconstancy.

. “Who can be in doubt of what followed? When any two young people take it into their heads to marry, they are pretty sure by perseverance to carry their point, be they ever so poor, or ever so imprudent, or ever so little likely to be necessary to each other’s ultimate comfort.”

The final chapter opens with a direct address to the reader from the narrator. The narrator points out the inevitability of Anne and Wentworth’s marriage despite the obstacles, the result of their constancy and determination. The narrator explains that couples with less love for each other or means to marry than Anne and Wentworth inevitably do so; therefore, Anne and Wentworth are well situated for a happy future.

“Sir Walter indeed, though he had no affection for Anne, and no vanity flattered, to make him really happy on the occasion, was very far from thinking it a bad match for her.”

Despite his pride, Sir Walter finally recognizes that Captain Wentworth is a worthy husband for his daughter. The humiliation of having to let Kellynch Hall, and the affair with Mrs. Clay and Mr. Elliot, have mitigated Sir Walter’s pride enough that he can sense the worth of having a son-in-law such as Wentworth.