Persuasion (1818) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Summary edit see section history

Characters/People edit see section history

• Anne Elliot: She is the heroine of the novel, Anne displays for us a logical-minded woman who lost her chance at love with Captain Frederick Wentworth because she was persuaded to cut off the engagement. A quiet, reserved character, she has shining moments when she exerts her natural leadership and class as a woman in her society. Still in love with Frederick, her emotional journey and internal struggle is captivating.
• Sir Walter Elliot: The vain and conceited father of Anne who refuses to surround himself with anyone not of the right birth, station, or beauty equal or superior to his own. Quite the snob.
• Lady Russell: A dear friend of Anne's late mother who holds great affection toward and influence over Anne. She persuaded Anne to not marry Captain Wentworth due to his lack of status and wealth.
• Captain Frederick Wentworth: Wentworth is a successful member of the Royal Navy who found great fortune at sea during the Napoleonic Wars. He was once briefly engaged to Anne, however she was persuaded not to continue her relationship with him. Eight years later, he has returned to Somersetshire intent on finding himself a bride. He professes to want only someone strong of character and not easily influenced by others--forcing Anne to pull herself out of the picture.
• William Elliot: He is Anne's cousin. The estranged heir of Sir Walter Elliot who appears to Anne in Lyme and later, again, in Bath. He is reunited with the family there and old troubles seem to be buried in the past.
• Mary Musgrove: Mary is Anne Elliot's younger sister. She is constantly seeking attention and often feigns illness in order to gain sympathy and attention. She is married to Charles Musgrove, who once proposed to Anne, but was refused.
• Charles Hayter: Cousin to Charles, Henrietta and Louisa Musgrove. He is unofficially engaged to Henrietta.
• Elizabeth Elliot: Anne's older sister. Elizabeth is considered to be the most beautiful of the Elliot daughters. She is a snob and constantly in the company of her father.
• Henrietta Musgrove: Henrietta is the sister of Charles and Louisa Musgrove. She is unofficially engaged to Charles Hayter. Henrietta develops an interest in Captain Wentworth when he first arrives on the scene but she eventually chooses Charles.
• Mrs. Clay: Companion to Elizabeth Elliot while in Bath, a friendship that is frowned upon by Lady Russell.
• Louisa Musgrove: Youngest Musgrove, fancies herself in love with Frederick Wentworth, very stubborn which leads to her fall in Lyme, resulting in a concussion. She eventually marries Wentworth's navy companion.
• Mrs. Smith: Widowed school friend of Anne Elliot's, residing in Bath.
• Mrs Harville: Married to Mr. Harville.
• Mrs Croft: Married to Admiral Mr. Coft. Lease Kellynch Hall.
• Captain Benwick: Friend to Captain Wentworth.
• Mr Shepherd: Add a description of this character.
• Mrs Wallis
• Lady Dalrymple: Related to Anne
• Dr Shirley
• Miss Carteret

Quotes edit see section history

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• “There could have been no two hearts so open, no tastes so similar, no feelings so in unison, no countenances so beloved.”

• “All the privilege I claim for my own sex (it is not a very enviable one, you need not covet it), is that of loving longest, when existence or when hope is gone.”

  Anne Elliot

• “Vanity was the beginning and the end of Sir Walter Elliot's character; vanity of person and of situation. He had been remarkably handsome in his youth; and, at fifty-four, was still a very fine man. Few women could think more of their personal appearance than he did, nor could the valet of any new made lord be more delighted with the place he held in society. He considered the blessing of beauty as inferior only to the blessing of a baronetcy; and the Sir Walter Elliott, who united these gifts, was the constant object of his warmest respect and devotion.”

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

• “If I was wrong in yielding to persuasion once, remember that it was to persuasion exerted on the side of safety, not of risk. When I yielded, I thought it was to duty; but no duty could be called in aid here. In marrying a man indifferent to me, all risk would have been incurred, and all duty violated.”

• “Personal size and mental sorrow have certainly no necessary proportions. A large bulky figure has as good a right to be in deep affliction, as the most graceful set of limbs in the world. But, fair or not fair, there are unbecoming conjunctions, which reason will patronize in vain -- which taste cannot tolerate -- which ridicule will seize.”

• “What might not eight years do? Events of every decription, changes, alienations, removals--all, all must be comprised in it, and oblivion of the past--how natural, how certain, too!”

• “She had given him up to oblige others. It had been the effect of over persuasion. It had been weakness and timidity.”

• “"There is so little real friendship in the world!and unfortunately"(speaking low and tremulously)"there are so many who forget to think seriously until it is almost too late. "”

• “"Men have had every advantage of us in telling their own story. ...the pen has been in their hands. I will not allow books to prove anything"”

  Anne Elliot

• “A house was never taken good care of, Mr Shepherd observed, without a lady: he did not know, whether furniture might not be in danger of suffering as much where there was no lady, as where there were many children. A lady, without a family, was the very best preserver of furniture in the world.”

  Mr Shepherd

• “when pain is over, the remembrance of it often becomes a pleasure.”

  Anne Elliot

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Bath: England
• Lyme: England
• Uppercross: England
• Kellynch Hall: England
• Camden Place: England
• London: England
• Laconia: England
• Monkford: England
• Taunton: England
• West Indies

Organizations edit see section history

• Society: Add a description of this organization.

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Glossary edit see section history

• Barouche: Horse-drawn carriage usually of four wheels and drawn by two horses of fine breeding. The occupants were covered to some extent by a collapsible soft top while the carriage system was suspended by a type of suspension known as "C springs". Barouches were popularized during the Regency Period in that they were reserved for those nice summertime rides in the country.

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

• Persuasion: 'Right' and 'Wrong' persuasion, and its role in society.
• Class rigidity vs. Social mobility: The naval profession allows a great deal of new social flexibility, which Austen mildly supports. However she also punishes characters like Mrs Clay, who overstep the bounds of their class.
• Insensible/ridiculous parents and the consequences for their children: Sir Walter Elliot is a vain and selfish man, who lets his worst traits lead his family into debt. These traits are passed on to Mary and Elizabeth, and the entire family has to move to Bath because of his lack of financial sense. He is a poor example to his children.
• Male/Female roles in public and private life: In Jane Austen's time, women would traditionally be in charge of private affairs and men in charge of public affairs. However, Austen presents the Crofts as having an ideal and happy marriage where both husband and wife participate in public and private life.
• the definition of a 'gentleman': The landed gentry were forced to make room for men who had improved their class and social status by education and profession.
• Influence: Describe this theme.

Errata edit see section history

Anne’s friend Mrs. Lefroy is referred to as Tom’s mother, not his aunt.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Preceded by When He Was Wicked, and followed by All Through the Night.

Preceded by A Town Like Alice, and followed by Dune.

Preceded by Emma, and followed by The Kite Runner.

Preceded by Green Eggs and Ham, and followed by The Joy Luck Club.

Preceded by Northanger Abbey, and followed by Ormond.

Preceded by She's Come Undone, and followed by The Odyssey.

Preceded by Veronika Decides to Die, and followed by Who Moved My Cheese?.

Preceded by The Last Straw, and followed by Angela's Ashes.

Preceded by Smooth Talking Stranger, and followed by Welcome to Temptation.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Jane Austen (Author)

Other Contributors:

1. William Galperin
2. William Galperin (Editor)
3. James Kinsley (Editor)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• BBC's Big Read (April 2003, #38)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PR4034 .P4
• Dewey: 822.92

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Appropriate for young adults (high school) but best read in twenties.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › Authors, A-Z › ( A ) › Austen, Jane
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Classics

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Wikipedia
• wikipedia
• The Project Gutenberg EBook of Persuasion, by Jane Austen: Link to the book in fulltext.

Movie Connections edit see section history

• Persuasion (IMDb): 1995 Movie.
• Persuasion (IMDb): 2007 Movie.
• Persuasion (IMDb): 1971 Mini-series.
• Persuasion (IMDb): 1960 TV Mini-series.

More Books Like This edit see section history

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history

Books Influenced by This Book edit see section history