Persuasion by Jane Austen Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Persuasion
Book Review: How Do You Persuade Love?
Summary: 4 Stars
Jane Austen is famous for her English dramas of marriage, love and societal acceptance. Her latest novel Persuasion continues the theme of society, love, and marriage and how money and jealousy interferes. Published posthumously, Persuasion is a dramatic story about persuading others of love, adhering to wishes of family and society, and the subtle hints that foretell every climatic chapter.
Widower Sir Walter Elliot lives on his Kellynch-hall estate with his two daughters Elizabeth and Anne. Both girls had unsuccessful chances at marriage: Elizabeth was turned down by Mr. Elliot, a family cousin and heir to Sir Walter's estate who married a plain woman of fortune instead; Anne had a great affair with a Mr. (now Captain) Wentworth, a naval officer who had nothing--and was therefore ineligible--to marry Anne. As Sir Walter falls deeper into debt, the Elliot family leases the estate to an Admiral Croft in order to save money. And Admiral Croft, naturally, is a great friend of Captain Wentworth, who reappears eight years after he and Anne parted. Can Anne persuade Captain Wentworth to lover her once again? The answer lies in the story.
Like in her other novels, Jane Austen incorporates the manners and social customs of the early 1800s in her novels. The novel speaks of the "great war" with Napoleon that the British Navy fought, and the characters are forever thinking about money and royal connections. Anne very much wanted to marry Captain Wentworth when the first fell in love. But English custom demands that a couple gets approval of their marriage from the bride's family. And as Captain Wentworth was poor at the time, the Elliots strictly forbade Anne from marrying him, and she didn't. Throughout the novel the characters also maintain an air of sophistication and elegance--an air required of everyone in the British court. And as Sir Walter Elliot was known in court, the whole family had to behave with "utmost decorum."
"It was impossible for her to have forgotten to feel that this arrival of their common friends must be soon bringing them together again." (Austen 197).
Foreshadow is prominent in the novel. In Chapter 2 both Captain Wentworth and Mr. Elliot are mentioned, assuring the reader that they will be prominent main characters. It was not until the end that the characters discover the reason behind Mr. Elliot's first marriage, but one character hinds that "money, money was all that he wanted" (Austen 178). After page 17 it becomes obvious to the reader what would happen between Anne and Captain Wentworth, for "repeating his name so often...was a new sort of trial on Anne's nerves" (Austen 44). Little hints along the way suck the reader deeper and deeper into the story.
Although "Proper English" is intimidating when reading Jane Austen's stories, her plots are classics in love and marriage. Anyone who has gone through a painful break up or a dramatic relationship knows just how much money, family and jealously can ruin a relationship. Austen dramatically tells the stories of her heroines while maintaining a 19th century setting, and drops subtle hints along the way to keep readers hooked. Persuasion is a classic that is understood and loved by all who read it.
Book Review: Literature that heals your soul
Summary: 5 Stars
I just recently went through a really rough break up and a friend of mine suggested that I read this book to start working on getting over it. It is a beautifully written book and the story is not at all predictable. It twists and turns and the whole time you find yourself on the edge of your seat, not able to put the book down untill you find out what is going to happen between Anne and Mr. Wentworth... will they see eachother? Will they speak? The characters are all very clear, and all very different. There's the annoying " it's all about her" sister, the well to do Friend, the loner bookworm, the bitter widow, the scheming cousin, each character is unique. Anne is polite and loveable. Everyone loves her and you will too. In the end, this beautiful love story gives a single girl like me hope that there is that perfect someone out there for me, but you don't have to be going through a loss to love this book. Everyone should read it. It is one of my new favorites of all time!Book Review: My favorite Austen novel.
Summary: 5 Stars
The writing in this novel really sets the stage for modern writing. It builds and builds and builds until you can't stand it any longer and the climax of the story happens at the end. Writing perfection and her best novel, even if Pride and Prejudice is her groundbreaking one... this is the most well written one, with a sweet sweet story!Book Review: Never allow someone to persuade you not to listen to your heart.
Summary: 5 Stars
Persuasion was Jane Austen's final novel. It is often criticized for being too short and not up to par with Austen's other novels. Persuasion was in fact written during the onset of the disease that eventually killed the author. Her final novel may indeed be considered different from her previous novels. It is the only Austen novel where the female protagonist is close to becoming a spinster. Persuasion is a very different type of novel with a love story told in retrospect, an unexpected villain, and an unintentional, but very bad piece of advice that negatively impacts many lives.
The main protagonist in this book is Anne Elliot. Anne is the middle daughter of Sir Walter Elliot. Sir Elliot was once a man of property and weath, but his ostentatious manner of living has considerably dimished his fortune. The great Elliot family retain only a much respected name and a fine estate named Kellynch Hall. Sir Walter is forced to confront his inability to retain the standard of living once enjoyed at the estate. He is asked to consider many options, including trimming down the number of servants, but all options seem appalling to the proud Sir Elliot.
Under the advice of a family friend, Sir Elliot agrees to let Kellynch Hall and retire to Bath with his eldest and middle daughter. Sir Elliot is not the only one in the family who takes the advice of the much respected Lady Russell, a widow and friend of the deceased Lady Elliot.
Anne Elliot was once engaged and very much in love with a poor, but honorable naval officer named Frederick Wentworth. Anne, however, broke off the engagement after Lady Russell convinced her that it would be a grave mistake for a young lady of her station to marry someone so far beneath her.
Eight lonely years go by for Anne, and the years have not been kind to her. The author writes that her beauty has considerably dimished. One who may have known Anne years ago would hardly find her recognizable. Over the years, Anne has forced herself not to think "of that person" as Anne often refers to Frederick Wentworth. The reader is immediately aware of Anne's lingering feelings for the man she heartlessly and foolishly rejected.
She is forced to confront her feelings when the family that leases Kellynch Hall turn out to be relations of now wealthy Captain Wentworth. There is much awkwardness and dread as Anne prepares to face the man she once loved and let go. Captain Wenworth, however, appears indifferent and one would hardly suspect from his cold behavior towards Anne that the two were ever even acquainted!
Throughout the novel Anne desperately looks for and finds small little details in Captain Wentworth behavior that the love he had for her has not diminished entirely. But can he forgive her for snubbing him?
I absolutely adored this novel about the one who got away, but there is so much more to the story than just Anne and Captain Wentworth. The book is full of lively characters, such as Anne's pompous father, her self-indulgent sister, Elizabeth, and many others. Most people are aquainted with Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Emma, but Persuasion should be recognized for the fine novel that it is.
Book Review: mesmerizing
Summary: 5 Stars
I think it was Mark Twain who said that one should read every great novel once every ten years of one's life; every rereading creates a "new" novel, as we ourselves change, and have changing perceptions on great literary works of art. I did my share of Jane Austen in English classes, a long time ago, but picking up Persuasion this Thanksgiving Day holiday, I could not put it down, where in the past, I could. I am in my forties now and seem to have gained a deeper appreciation for Anne Eliot's heroic character-- heroic in the moral sense...if we had had Anne Eliots for Wallstreet Bankers we would not be in the trouble we are in now, and truly, honestly, Austen is superb in subtly building her arc of suspense with enough plot twists worthy of any Hollywood blockbuster...which is why, if she had lived today she'd be a Nora Ephron and have a great movie out every other year.
The novel also served as the proverbial mirror, or as so many have argued, true art is holding up a mirror to Nature...looking into that mirror myself, I felt many personal shortcomings vis a vis patient and virtuous Anne, and I think the next generation, my children's generation which I think of as the "on demand" generation would greatly benefit from exploring this novel and mirroring their own commonalities and shortcomings on someone like Anne...
Inez Hollander Lake
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