My book group is reading Persuasion and I'm ecstatic.
I think other folks in my book group are also enthusiastic about reading Persuasion and that, as a result, we'll have a lively discussion.
I guess I'm a Janeite although I'm unsure when I underwent the change. Sometime between when, as a college sophomore, I was present as two professors discussed Emma and I thought that they meant Emma Bovary and the end of college, at which point I'd read all six of the finished novels.
Persuasion is my favorite Austen novel. I suppose that's because it's been described as a novel of second chances. At the beginning of the novel, Anne seems to be destined to be an old maid although she hasn't quite arrived there yet: Lady Russell says that she's been "too little seen," which I took to imply that Lady Russell that socializing only at home with her family prevented Anne from meeting men whom she might marry.
Her fine qualities are overlooked by her immediate family. Lady Russell is her close friend but seems not to understand how deeply she regrets her lost chance to marry Captain Wentworth. Her sister insists that she be accompanied to Bath and says that Anne had better go visit their married sister because she's sure "no one will want" Anne.
As much as it embarrasses her, she is forced to meet Wentworth frequently when his sister and brother-in-law move into Anne's old home (rented to help meet an embarrassing level of indebtedness). After their first meeting in seven years, Wentworth opines to her sisters-in-law that she is much changed -- so much so that he wouldn't recognize her. I'm not sure exactly what he means but I know it isn't meant to be complimentary.
But, by the end of the novel, things have changed: one acquaintance is thought to have been interested in her (Captain Benwick, although that interest does not last long) and another, Mr. Elliot, has proposed. Most significantly, she is now to be married to the man she's always loved, Captain Wentworth.
So Anne is the underdog and you're rooting for her once you understand her situation. But she's not just the underdog but "really nice." She strives to control her emotions in public and mostly succeeds, almost too well; she's a good nurse and a loyal friend; she supports and shows concern for others.
I read Fanny Burney's Evelina earlier this year and saw that that novel is greatly concerned with proper conduct. Austen's work also shows much concern for proper conduct but entertains us at the same time with humor, satire and romantic stories that all end happily.
Part of the delight I take in this novel is that the happy ending could not happened to a nicer person. Anne Elliot is so deserving. I read somewhere once that Jane Austen said of Anne something like that she was "too good." I'm delighted to know that Anne's creator can appreciate that it's pretty hard to be as patient and restrained as Anne is. But while I recognize that Anne Elliot is too good to be true I still enjoy her virtue and I'm happy that the ending is "virtue rewarded."
I thought about the Elliots and the "Elliot pride," a common enough failing, as I was reading the book. Pride seems to me to rarely be considered seriously. It is a failing but also has positive aspects. In short, it's a complicated topic. Mary Elliot is not just proud; she's someone who desperately needs attention. That, too is a familiar quality I've noticed in myself and others. I suppose this portrait of human nature, a little exaggerated (but possibly not much) for comic effect, is timeless and another attraction of this novel.
I think other folks in my book group are also enthusiastic about reading Persuasion and that, as a result, we'll have a lively discussion.
I guess I'm a Janeite although I'm unsure when I underwent the change. Sometime between when, as a college sophomore, I was present as two professors discussed Emma and I thought that they meant Emma Bovary and the end of college, at which point I'd read all six of the finished novels.
Persuasion is my favorite Austen novel. I suppose that's because it's been described as a novel of second chances. At the beginning of the novel, Anne seems to be destined to be an old maid although she hasn't quite arrived there yet: Lady Russell says that she's been "too little seen," which I took to imply that Lady Russell that socializing only at home with her family prevented Anne from meeting men whom she might marry.
Her fine qualities are overlooked by her immediate family. Lady Russell is her close friend but seems not to understand how deeply she regrets her lost chance to marry Captain Wentworth. Her sister insists that she be accompanied to Bath and says that Anne had better go visit their married sister because she's sure "no one will want" Anne.
As much as it embarrasses her, she is forced to meet Wentworth frequently when his sister and brother-in-law move into Anne's old home (rented to help meet an embarrassing level of indebtedness). After their first meeting in seven years, Wentworth opines to her sisters-in-law that she is much changed -- so much so that he wouldn't recognize her. I'm not sure exactly what he means but I know it isn't meant to be complimentary.
But, by the end of the novel, things have changed: one acquaintance is thought to have been interested in her (Captain Benwick, although that interest does not last long) and another, Mr. Elliot, has proposed. Most significantly, she is now to be married to the man she's always loved, Captain Wentworth.
So Anne is the underdog and you're rooting for her once you understand her situation. But she's not just the underdog but "really nice." She strives to control her emotions in public and mostly succeeds, almost too well; she's a good nurse and a loyal friend; she supports and shows concern for others.
I read Fanny Burney's Evelina earlier this year and saw that that novel is greatly concerned with proper conduct. Austen's work also shows much concern for proper conduct but entertains us at the same time with humor, satire and romantic stories that all end happily.
Part of the delight I take in this novel is that the happy ending could not happened to a nicer person. Anne Elliot is so deserving. I read somewhere once that Jane Austen said of Anne something like that she was "too good." I'm delighted to know that Anne's creator can appreciate that it's pretty hard to be as patient and restrained as Anne is. But while I recognize that Anne Elliot is too good to be true I still enjoy her virtue and I'm happy that the ending is "virtue rewarded."
I thought about the Elliots and the "Elliot pride," a common enough failing, as I was reading the book. Pride seems to me to rarely be considered seriously. It is a failing but also has positive aspects. In short, it's a complicated topic. Mary Elliot is not just proud; she's someone who desperately needs attention. That, too is a familiar quality I've noticed in myself and others. I suppose this portrait of human nature, a little exaggerated (but possibly not much) for comic effect, is timeless and another attraction of this novel.
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