A review by lucysbookshelf
Persuasion by Jane Austen

5.0

 There aren’t enough stars to count my feelings for this book. Every re-read I do, I find new details, see the characters in a new light and still feel at awe. 

This is the last complete novel written by Austen in 1815-1816 but published posthumously in 1817. As such, we can see themes of nostalgia, melancholia, feelings of regret and also of a life well lived, as Jane Austen was probably thinking about her own life. We have to remember that before she died, she spent a lot of her time confined, ill and with the company of her dearest sister, Cassandra. I think it’s important that I mention this because of some new theory that formed in my mind on this re-read. 

I usually focus on Anne and Captain Wentworth when I re-read this novel. After all, I love romance and their story is one with angst, regrets but also with love and hope. Something I notice time and again is how Wentworth is the only character in the novel who loves Anne for who she is (even if he’s too mad at the beginning to actually see it). Anne’s father and sisters want her when she is a convenience, they try to change her and mold her to what they want and need. Lady Russell loves her because she finds some resemblance in her to Anne's mother, her best friend in the past and also for what she herself could make of Anne. Mr. Elliott only wants Anne to get the money and title that comes with it, even though he can’t deny to himself that she is very good company. But in the middle of all these selfish people who only want Anne for what she can be to them or what she can give them, there’s Captain Wentworth who values Anne for who she is, someone who is smart, sweet, acts in emergencies, capable in every situation, empathic and also kind. Even in his moments of madness, he recognises all these characteristics like he once did when they were together. This also brings me to a very important topic in this book: the ability to be persuaded and the strength of character. Wentworth convinces himself that their falling out is to blame on Anne´s being persuaded by Lady Russell and decides to compliment Louisa (one of his admirers) for her strength of character and resolution. This ends up badly when because of those traits, she almost loses her life. It’s at this moment that Wentworth realizes he’s been wrong all along. That fatal fall could also represent what would have happened if they had married when he was still poor and without a career, what future was there for them? Anne had the strength to let him go and also the bravery to live with the consequences, something Louisa didn’t at that moment. 

My second focus is on the image of the perfect marriage portrayed by Wentworth’s sister Sophie and her husband, Admiral Croft. It’s noticeable how they are equals in everything. He works away at sea and she is at his side, embracing the challenges of life as he does. They do everything together, even if society disagrees with those actions for a woman. 

My third focus is on the feminist subtopic through all of the book. Not only in the iconic line “I hate to hear you talk about all women as if they were fine ladies instead of rational creatures. None of us want to be in calm waters all our lives.” but also in the brief discussion Anne has with Captain Harville about women loving longer than men because of their lack of occupation and their constantly staying at home. Harville uses examples in books and history to contradict her and then, Anne argues that those were all written by men, who would of course, never give that credit to women and also shows how women had no voice. 

Last but not least, my main focus on this re-read was in the character of Mrs. Smith. As I wrote in the beginning of my review, Austen was already sick and confined by the time she wrote this novel. She existed among fictional characters (those she read about and those she wrote) and probably, among the gossip her sister Cassandra told her to entertain her. In this story, Mrs. Smith also is sick, confined and lives through other people’s gossip to feel like she is part of a society that she can no longer see if they don’t call upon her (something not very possible given her poverty and age, same happened with Austen at the time). I’d like to believe, Jane Austen wrote Mrs. Smith inserting herself into the story, guiding our heroine because she felt like she already knew a lot about life and could guide her and open her eyes about who Mr. Elliot was and also, to be a part of this fictional society that she must have missed dearly. (Disclaimer: this is just my theory, I could be totally wrong on this).