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CONTEXT, TIME AND SETTING of PERSUASION.
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Meaning of context:1)Paragraphs surrounding a word or sentence; overall situation, background2)The part or parts of something written or printed, as of Scripture, which precede or follow a text or quoted sentence, or are so intimately associated with it as to throw light upon its meaning.
*Jane Austen drew from ordinary circumstances to produce extraordinary works of English literature. Known by many as a novelist who focuses on marriage plots andhappy endings, Austen's works can more deeply beunderstood to be a study of the complex class and gender relations which underscoredearly-nineteenth century English middle-class society.
*George Austen, born of the gentleman-farmer class, appreciated education and chose to study theology at Oxford. There he met Cassandra Leigh, who would become his wife. Though personally they had much in common, Cassandra's titled relations thought she was of a higher social status than George. Nevertheless, in 1764, they chose to marry and had eight children in quick succession: six boys and two girls. *Both Jane and her sister Cassandra were mostly educated at home, though they spent a short period of time at Abbey School. Jane's relationship with her sister was perhaps the strongest connection which existed in her life. Her numerous letters to and from Cassandra provide the basis for much of the knowledge Austen scholars have gleaned about Jane. And this close relationship may have provided the basis for the many novels in which Austen explores the connections among sisters.
Neither Jane nor Cassandra ever married, though they had early offers. Yet this situation was not entirely uncommon for the time. Perhaps due to the added burden of finding a suitable mate within one's social class, between 10–35% of people in Jane Austen's time remained single. Yet Jane's status as a single woman did not upset her. The lack of a husband allowed her the freedom to concentrate on her writing, and the opportunity to be a keen observer of the actions of those around her.
By the age of twenty-five, Austen had already written three novels, though Sense and Sensibility, Austen's first novel to be published, was not released until 1811. In the early nineteenth century, publishing was one of the few ways middle-class women could earn money, and Austen used her modest earnings to supplement her income. Two years later, her second novel, Pride and Prejudice (1813) was published and proved to be extremely popular, ending Austen's anonymity. Her next novel, Mansfield Park (1814), did not sell as well, and Austen followed it in 1816 with Emma, the last novel to be published before her early death.
Austenwrote her final novel, Persuasion, in under a year.Persuasion and Northanger Abbey were published posthumously in 1818, and together earned little over 500 pounds, a small amount by today's standards, but more money than Austen herself ever saw in her lifetime.
Persuasionrepresents the maturity of Austen's work, and more than her other novels, evidences Austen's comic yet biting satire of the titled upper classes. Austen's own social position, as the daughter of a parish clergyman, placed her firmly in the respected middle-class, but as an author she was free to step outside her sphere and write about the personal flaws and mistakes of the proud gentry. Such subtle criticism is especially apparent in her descriptions of the ridiculous and vain Sir Walter Elliot, who is forced to leave his family's house because of his lavish and imprudent overspending.
Austen's final novel also stands out for the nationalistic pride expressed by the characters throughout the work. The reverence which Persuasion's female characters hold for the Naval officers reflects the esteem in which the Navy was held in Austen's day. At the height of the British Empire, amidst wars with both France and America, the Navy was admired as the defender of British interests throughout the world. Such Navy heroes in the novel introduce a new, rougher ideal of manliness into Austen's world, for which the feminized Sir Walter serves as the unfortunate foil.
. PLOT STORY Anne Elliot is the overlooked middle daughter of the vain Sir Walter Elliot, a baronet who is all too conscious of his good looks and rank and spends excessive amounts of money. Anne's mother, a fine, sensible woman, is long dead, and her elder sister, Elizabeth, resembles her father in temperament and delights in the fact that as the eldest daughter she can assume her mother's former position in their rural neighborhood. Anne's younger sister, Mary, is a nervous, clinging woman who has made an unspectacular marriage to Charles Musgrove of Uppercross Hall, the heir to a bucolic but respected local squire. None of her surviving family can provide much companionship for the elegant-minded Anne, who, still unmarried at 27, seems destined for spisterhood. After she met and fell in love with Wentworth, at age nineteen, Anne had been persuaded by her mother's great friend —and her own trusted confidante, the widow Lady Russell— to break the engagement. Lady Russell had questioned the wisdom of Anne marrying a penniless young naval officer without family or connections and whose prospects were so uncertain. Wentworth is left bitter at Lady Russell's interference and Anne's own want of fortitude. .
Wentworth re-enters Anne's life when Sir Walter is forced by his own profligacy to let the family estate to none other than Wentworth's brother-in-law, Admiral Croft. Wentworth's successes in the Napoleonic Wars resulted in his promotion and enabled him to amass the then considerable fortune of £25,000 (around £2.5 million in today's money) from prize money awarded for capturing enemy vessels. The Musgroves, including Mary, Charles and Charles's younger sisters, Henrietta and Louisa, are delighted to welcome the Crofts and Wentworth to the neighborhood. Both Musgrove girls are attracted to Wentworth, though Henrietta is informally engaged to clergyman cousin Charles Hayter. Hayter is viewed as a merely respectable match, being a bit beneath the Musgroves, socially and financially. Charles, Mary, and the Crofts continually speculate as to which one Wentworth might marry. All this is hard on Anne, due to her regret at breaking off the engagement and Wentworth's constant attention to the Musgrove girls. She tries to escape their company as often as she can, preferring to spend time with her nephews
Captain Wentworth's visit to a close friend, Captain Harville, in nearby Lyme Regis results in a day-long outing being organized by those eager to see the resort. While there, Louisa Musgrove sustains a concussion in a fall brought about by her own impetuous behaviour. This highlights the difference between the headstrong Louisa and the more sensible Anne. While onlookers exclaim that Louisa is dead and her companions stand around dumbfounded, Anne administers first aid and summons assistance. Wentworth's admiration for Anne reawakens as a result.Louisa's recovery is slow and her self-confidence is severely shaken. Her newfound timidity elicits the kind attention and reassurance of Wentworth's friend Captain Benwick, who had been mourning the recent death of his fiancée. The couple find their personalities to be now more in sympathy and they become engaged.Meanwhile, Sir Walter, Elizabeth, and Elizabeth's scheming friend Mrs. Clay, the widowed daughter of Sir Walter's agent, have relocated to Bath. There they hope to live in a manner befitting a baronet and his family with the least possible expense until their finances are restored to a firmer footing. Sir Walter's cousin and heir, William Elliot, who long ago slighted the baronet, now seeks a reconciliation. Elizabeth assumes that he wishes to court her, while Lady Russell more correctly suspects that he admires Anne.
Although William Elliot seems a perfect gentleman, Anne distrusts him; she finds his character disturbingly opaque. She is enlightened by an unexpected source when she discovers an old school friend, Mrs. Smith, living in Bath in straitened circumstances. Mrs. Smith and her now-deceased husband had once been Mr. Elliot's closest friends. Having encouraged them into financial extravagance, he had quickly dropped them when they became impoverished. Anne learns, to her great distress, of his layers of deceit and calculated self-interest. In addition, her friend speculates that Mr. Elliot wants to reestablish his relationship with her family primarily to safeguard his inheritance of the title, fearing a marriage between Sir Walter and Mrs. Clay. This helps Anne to understand more fully the dangers of persuasion—in that Lady Russell pressed her to accept Mr. Elliot's likely offer of marriage—and helps her to develop more confidence in her own judgment.Ultimately, the Musgroves visit Bath to purchase wedding clothes for their daughters Louisa and Henrietta (who has become engaged to Hayter). Captain Wentworth and his friend Captain Harville accompany them. Anne and Harville discuss the relative faithfulness of men and women in love, while Wentworth writes a note within earshot of the discussion. This causes him to write a note to Anne detailing his feelings for her. In a tender scene, Anne and Wentworth reconcile and renew their engagement. The match is now more palatable to Anne's family — their waning fortunes and Wentworth's waxing ones have made a considerable difference. Also, ever overvaluing good looks, Sir Walter is favorably impressed with his future son-in-law's appearance. Lady Russell admits she has been completely wrong about Captain Wentworth, and she and Anne remain friends.
The issues of class rigidity and social mobility are the most important themes in Persuasion. Marriage and the naval profession are two means by which individuals may improve their social class. Austen is not a revolutionary; she defends the values and traditions of respect for the social structure.
‘Walter Elliot, born March 1,1760, married, July 15, 1784, Elizabeth , daughter of James Stevenson, Esq. Of South Park, in the county of Gloucester; by which lady ( who died 1800) he has issue Elizabeth, born June 1,1785; Anne born August 9,1787; a still-born son, Nov. 5, 1789; Mary, born 20,1791.(Austen,p:3)
Anne had not wanted this visit to Uppercross to learn that a removal from one set of people to another, though at a distance of only three miles, will often include a total change of conversation, opinion, and idea. (Austen,p:32)
‘One day last spring, in town I was in company with two me, striking instances of what I am talking of, Lord St Ives, whose father we all know to have been a country curate, without bread to eat; I was to give place to Lord St Ives and at a certain Admiral Baldwin, the most deplorable looking personage you can imagine.’ ( Sir Walter Elliot, 15)
‘Yes; it is in two points offensive to me; I have two strong grounds of objection to it. First, as a means of bringing persons of obscure birth into undue distinction, and raising men to honours which their fathers and grandfathers never dreamt of; and secondly, as it cuts up a man's youth and vigour most horribly. ’(p:14) Sir Walter Elliot is explaining to his family and friends why he objects to the Navy and wishes that none of his relatives will ever join it. Sir Walter highly values appearance and attractiveness, and so naturally he dislikes the way the sun and sea air can weather a face and "cut up a man's youth." Sir Walter truly objects to the Navy because it functions as a means of social ascension. The Navy allows men who are dedicated and hard-working to build a fortune and to gain social status. His objection is not only to the Navy, but to increasing social mobility in society.
*Captain Wentworth had no fortune.*Such confidence, powerful in its own warmth, and bewitching the wit which often expressed it, must have been enough for Anne; but Lady Russel saw it differently.* She deprecated the connexion in every light.*Lady Russel as satisfied as ever with her own discretion, never wished the past undone , she began now to have the anxiety which borders on hopelesness for Anne’s being tempted, by some man of talents and independence , to enter a state for which she held her to be peculiarly fitted by her warm affections and domestic habits. (p:22)
* 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.(P:192) Anne explains to him the reason behind her initial decision, eight years ago, to break their engagement. The various uses of persuasion is one of the main themes of the novel, but in this passage Anne rationally justifies its use. She concludes that it was correct of her to yield to persuasion by Lady Russell because she had a duty to her rank and to "safety." What is notable about this passage is the cool rationality which Anne employs. Though Austen writes about marriages, her novels are not entirely about "romance." Passion must be tempered by reason and practicality if a marriage is to be successful.
*His profession was all that could ever make her friends wish that tenderness less; the dread of a future war all that could dim her sunshine. She gloried in being a sailor's wife, but she must pay the tax of quick alarm for belonging to that profession which is, if possible, more distinguished in its domestic virtues than in its national importance. In these final lines of the novel, Austen makes a broad observation regarding the role of the Navy in society. She acknowledges that Anne's future may not be entirely happy; being married to a Naval officer means worrying constantly about the prospect of war and long-term separation. In this period of English history, wars and Naval skirmishes occurred with alarming frequency. Though Persuasion might include characters who are officers in the Navy, it never describes them in their professional capacity. Their rank is only important for the degree of esteem with which they are regarded by civilians. Austen is conscious of this significant exclusion and her final line serves as a recognition of it. The Navy, as an institution, does many good things for England; it defends the country, maintains the colonies, functions as a means of social mobility, and instructs its rank on English values. This passage is Austen's way of paying respect to the Navy; it is an honorable means to rise in society through hard work and good fortune.
REFERENCES Brown, Julia Prewitt. Jane Austen's Novels: Social Change and Literary Form. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1979. Gard, Roger. Emma and Persuasion. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1989. Laski, Marghanita. Jane Austen and Her World. London: Thames and Hudson, 1969. Lewis, C.S. 'A Note on Jane Austen', Essays in Criticism, four (Oct. 1954), 359–71; reprinted in Ian Watt (ed.) Jane Austen: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1963. McMaster, Juliet. Jane Austen on Love. Victoria, BC: University of Victoria Press, 1978. Monaghan, David. Jane Austen, Structure and Social Vision. London: Macmillan Press, 1980.
