"...she was only Anne."

"…Anne, with an elegance of mind and sweetness of character, which must have placed her high with any people of real understanding, was nobody with either father or sister; her word had no weight, her convenience was always to give way -- she was only Anne." (pg. 25-26)

After flying through both Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice I deemed it necessary to indulge further in my growing taste for Jane Austen novels.  Persuasion is one of her shortest novels and the last novel she ever wrote.  It was curious to investigate and see whether or not Austen ended her writing legacy with a unique, unforgettable piece.  

From the start, Persuasion appears to follow the basic plot and a theme seen in Austen’s other novels.  The similarities are almost baffling.  Following the satire and themes of the other novels, Persuasion takes a hard look at the human institution of marriage.  Love and attachment were foreign to the people of Austen’s day; one of the main purposes in marriage was to rise in social class and economic status.  In those times, to marry with wealth and security was what many women thought would bring happiness and satisfaction.  This frenzy and desire to be married well and young threw many women into quick, careless marriages.  In her novels, Austen questions this philosophy as seen through the marriage of Charles and Mary in Persuasion, the Palmers in Sense and Sensibility, and the Bennets in Pride and Prejudice.  In her lifetime, Austen was never married which was a rare occasion for women in her time and typically shameful occurrence.

Austen’s immediate favor towards and focus on Anne is seen early in the exposition as was the case with both Elizabeth and Elinor of the previous novels.  Anne is rational, level headed, a good listener, thoughtful, and possesses a great deal of self control.  Anne’s ability to suppress her emotions towards Fredrick Wentworth showed great similarity to the situation of Elinor and Edward from Sense and Sensibility.  Anne and Fredrick were forced to spend many an uncomfortable evening together in Uppercross, but Anne remained composed through the mortifying discomfort.  Anne’s rejecting Wentworth was similar to Elizabeth’s refusal to Darcy at the beginning of Pride and Prejudice.  However, even though Anne relates too many of these characters, there is no one Anne’s experiences parallel more than those of Jane Austen.  Both had a broken engagement and a fall of family status.  It is almost as if Austen is writing an autobiography through Anne.

My enjoyment of this book has grown and blossomed due to my abilities to relate the plethora of characters, themes, plot, and satire to Austen’s personal life and her other novels.