It was sometime in the last seven to ten years that I first read Jane Austen's Persuasion (1818). It was during the summer, I think, after I fully acknowledged and accepted the charm and greatness of her stories.You would think that as an English major I would have been familiar and enthralled with her and her work, but truth be told, I had abstained from reading many of the "classics" which tend to be very Eurocentric. In regards to Austen, in particular, I was required to read Pride and Prejudice (1813) for the first time my freshman year in college. The professor was certainly a fan of Austen and the novel and gave away everything. My professor, however, analyzed the novel for us to the point that I didn't even have to read it to write a major essay on it. In fact, the introductory paragraph to that essay remains one of my best and favorite to date. (I don't remember the details, just that the first sentence was beautifully phrased and encapsulated Austen's craft and the novel perfectly). I didn't get far with reading the book, and because of the professor's hard sell on Austen, I avoided reading Austen's work for a few years, even though it was again assigned in another course my sophomore year.
Looking back, I think I just wasn't ready for Austen, for I fell in love with Pride and Prejudice when I willfully and independently read it on my own a few years later. That prompted me to move on to Sense and Sensibility (1811), followed by Persuasion. With each succeeding Austen novel read, I fell more and more enamored, though I have yet to read the other three because they seem less appealing (Emma mainly because I associate the character with Gwyneth Paltrow who I can't stand). Among the three read, Persuasion remains my absolute favorite. I'm not fully sure why. Maybe it's because I tend to root for the underdogs.
No other protagonist is more of an underdog than Anne Elliott who at 27 in Regency England is "past her bloom." Eight years before, Anne was persuaded at the urging of Lady Russell, her trusted mentor, to break off her engagement with young naval officer Frederick Wentworth because, though ambitious and confident, he was "poor" and had "no particular family connections to recommend him."
Anne is reunited with Wentworth, however, when his sister and her husband, the Crofts, rent out Kellynch Hall, Anne's family estate, because her vain and spendthrift father is forced to retrench. Wentworth is now a captain, a self-made man of fortune from the Napoleonic Wars and has become quite the appealing bachelor, particularly to the Musgroves, Anne's sisters-in-law who are themselves now quite in their bloom. Recognizing that Captain Wentworth is still bitter over her rejection, Anne is dejected but resigned to her spinster fate despite regretting breaking off their engagement and harboring a deep love for Captain Wentworth. What develops from this plot point is what I consider to be an introspective, quiet, and mature romance ever written.
To some, Anne might be seen a sad, pitiable case. She leads a dull life and seems accepting of the fact that her needs are of little interest to everyone else. She remains the wallpaper in the room. Worse yet, she seems accepting of that fact.
However, Anne possesses a quiet strength, a willingness to take responsibility for her decisions without complaint or blame. More than anything, she is perceptive, self-aware, and has grown to just be herself, without pretense. It is these characteristics that enable Captain Wentworth to reopen his heart to Anne and possess him to hastily scribe her the.most.romantic.letter I've ever read from a work of literature so far.
You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope....I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago....For you alone, I think and plan.Hot damn! I think I cried the first time I read this letter. Coming near the end of the book, I thought Anne was so deserving of it because she had suffered silently and deeply for so many years. Captain Wentworth's visible indifference towards her upon their reunion hurt. And yet, she bore no animosity or ill will towards those who had wronged her (mainly her father and older sister, I think) and had seemingly better fortune than hers. I quite love the fact that Anne was dignified throughout. She is so deserving of her happy ending.
Persuasion is quite a diamond in a vault of Austen gems. Its mature depiction of love and romance is very swoon-worthy, even in a congested market filled with tawdry and commercialized romances.
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