The dashing Captain Frederick Wentworth is ready to marry the first girl who comes after him—or so he says, with two mental reservations. First: she can’t be Anne Elliot. Second: she has do well in a comparison with Anne Elliot… because even though Anne Elliot broke her engagement with him eight years ago just because he wasn’t rich enough, she’s still his standard of perfection.
Persuasion is not a long book—it’s comparable to The Railway Children and Alice in Wonderland. I recommend it for ages 15+.
If you just need a quick recap skip straight to the end; or read on through for the details!
The Plot [spoiler alert!]
Anne Elliot, the heroine of Persuasion, is quiet and thoughtful—not one to make a brilliant appearance in the sunshine, but exactly the sort of responsible, reliable person that you need when you’re under a thundercloud. She’s highly undervalued by her family—“only Anne” is used to being overlooked and unthought-of. Only her close friend, Lady Russell—who was the close friend of her mother before her—really appreciates Anne. Though, once upon a time, Frederick Wentworth also appreciated Anne—but he was a sailor, and not in good circumstances, and Lady Russell strongly advised Anne against the match. Anne, though loving Frederick, was persuaded that she would be doing better by him to break off her engagement. The event hardly proved Lady Russell in the right—Frederick left only to make his fortune and be appointed Captain—but he did not come back to Anne.
Eight years later, Anne and Frederick are brought together again. Captain Wentworth’s sister and her husband—Admiral and Mrs. Croft—are going to rent the Elliot’s home. The fact is, vain and proud Sir Walter Elliot has been living beyond his means for a while now, and he absolutely needs to retrench. He and his oldest daughter move to Bath, where they can be elegant at less expense than on their large estate. Anne goes to visit her married sister Mary.
Mary married into a large, friendly family, the Musgroves by name. Her husband is a nice guy, and puts up with a lot to boot, because Mary is rather prone to complaining and fancying that (being an Elliot) she is ill-used if she doesn’t have the very best of everything. Anne, always at hand to hear her complaints, performs the useful task of keeping others from having to hear them. Besides, Anne is competent and unobtrusive. In short, she gets along very well with her sister’s family.
As anyone could have foreseen, Captain Wentworth visits his sister, and he begins to spend a great deal of his time with the Musgroves—especially with the two oldest girls, Henrietta and Louisa. Anne tries to find out whether he is indifferent to her, angry with her, avoiding her, or… but no, she can find no reason to suppose that he still loves her. Rather, he seems to be becoming attached to Louisa Musgrove.
Then one day, while the Musgroves, Anne, and Captain Wentworth are on a visit to some navy friends of Captain Wentworth’s, Louisa hurts herself—knocks herself on the head in fact, by recklessly jumping from a higher walkway to a lower, expecting Captain Wentworth to catch her. Of half a dozen terrified people, only Anne has sense enough to decide what to do. After the immediate excitement is over, Louisa is left with Captain Wentworth’s friends to recover, and Anne returns to the Musgroves’s house—and shortly thereafter, goes to join Lady Russell, who will soon set off for Bath.
In Bath Anne meets Mr. Elliot—heir to Sir Elliot (Anne’s father)’s estate and title. He has been long estranged from his extended family, but suddenly seems as desirous as possible of being on good terms with them. Anne distrusts him, but her father and sister are pleased to have him around.
They have another person around too—a Mrs. Clay—a clever, subtle young widow who has wormed her way into the oldest Miss Elliot’s good graces and is now trying to worm her way into her father’s. Anne strongly disapproves; but her sister laughs at her suspicions and ignores her advice.
Although no one else in Bath is particularly interested in how things are going with the Musgroves, Anne is quite interested, though she is sure that the next thing she hears will be Captain Wentworth’s engagement to Louisa. But she is utterly astounded when she hears that Louisa Musgrove is engaged to be married, not to Captain Wentworth, but to his friend Captain Benwick. Captain Wentworth coming to Bath immediately afterwards, Anne is rather scared of the hopes her imagination paints to her.
Mr. Elliot, whatever his motive in first visiting his relations, soon finds another—he is decidedly impressed with Anne. Lady Russell is pleased with the idea; but Anne, still suspicious of Mr. Elliot’s intentions and very convinced that no one can compare to Captain Wentworth, does not appreciate the suggestion. When Anne hears from an old schoolmate of hers that Mr. Elliot is in fact a worldly, heartless man, whose main purpose in Bath is to scheme against Mrs. Clay and keep her from marrying Anne’s father, she is not surprised, and begins to consider his attentions toward her as a decided nuisance.
I’m having trouble getting from there to Frederick and Anne finally understanding each other without copying out the dialogue that gets them to that point. You’ll simply have to take it from me that they do, and in a very natural manner, and Mr. Elliot is left nowhere—and takes Mrs. Clay with him. Poor Lady Russell has to eat humble pie, but she does it with a good grace and resolves to like Captain Wentworth in spite of her prejudices. Apart from regretting not having any decent relations to connect her husband with, Anne’s happiness is complete.
Though it doesn’t take a genius to guess that Anne and Frederick will end up together again, the story takes some twists and turns, with a mild bit of intrigue in the background on Mr. Elliot’s part. It’s a good plot.
7/10
The Point
Anne is persuadable—too persuadable, Captain Wentworth thinks. She let Lady Russell talk her out of an engagement, though her heart was in it. She tossed him over on considerations of worldly prudence, and he does not appreciate that. Captain Wentworth likes a decided mind, a strong will… and then Louisa Musgrove, against his advice, stubbornly takes a dangerous jump and nearly kills herself.
Being persuadable has its good side.
6/10
The Style
Not only is Jane Austen’s style straightforward and elegant, it’s also full of a wonderful mild irony—putting everyday events into a humorous perspective. Persuasion is a very enjoyable read as a result, full of subtle humor.
9/10
Conclusion
7/10
Persuasion is a delightful romance full of Jane Austen’s wonderful sense of humor. It’s got a well-developed plot with a thoughtful reflection on when it’s right for our decisions to be influenced by others. Without being long, it’s a very satisfying story and well worth a read—or even two reads!
Persuasion is available for free as an ebook on Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/105
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