This paper examines Jane Austen's final novel, Persuasion, through the lens of its major themes: social class and status, the position of women in Regency-era England, and the search for personal identity and independence. After summarizing the central plot — in which Anne Elliot, persuaded to reject her suitor Frederick Wentworth on grounds of class, spends years as a spinster before the two are reunited — the paper explores how Austen critiques the rigid class system of her time, exposes the limited options available to women, and celebrates the individual's capacity for self-knowledge. The paper argues that these themes retain relevance for contemporary readers.
Persuasion by the renowned English novelist Jane Austen was written between August 1815 and August 1816 and was her last novel. It is interesting to note that the title, which captures the central theme so well, was only a working title; Austen died before she could give the book a title to her liking.
Like so many of her previous novels, Persuasion deals ostensibly with a love relationship. However, love in this period of English history was intimately intertwined with social norms and expectations. Social class and status, as well as wealth, were aspects that determined many marriages and influenced many love relationships.
Austen is also concerned with the position and role of women in a society where advancement for females could only be achieved through marriage to men of wealth, status, and power. One of the themes discussed in this paper is the way that the central female character, Anne Elliot, is persuaded by class and status to deny her love for a man. The novel also explores the way in which she and others must come to terms with their own sense of value and love in spite of the social norms and conventions that influence — and even determine — their lives. This paper views the novel in terms of its social and cultural context and, on that basis, explores some of the central themes of this nineteenth-century novel in an attempt to show why it remains important to the contemporary reader.
The narrative begins seven years after the main character, Anne Elliot, has refused to marry Frederick Wentworth. The reason for her refusal underlies the central theme of class and social status that pervades this and many other novels by Austen. The man Anne fell in love with seven years ago was handsome and ambitious but also poor and without high social standing.
Anne's family — particularly her father, Sir Walter Elliot, and her sister — were intensely conscious of class and status. They were opposed to the relationship and engagement between Anne and Frederick Wentworth. Anne was persuaded not to marry him by Lady Russell, who had become her mentor after the death of her mother. The reason given to Anne was that it would not be "wise" to marry a man with no fortune and no family connections in society, whose future prospects were also deemed uncertain.
She therefore breaks off the engagement. After a period of seven years we encounter her as a spinster. There is a certain irony, however, in that when Anne and Wentworth meet again, their fortunes have changed: she and her family have become relatively poor while the Wentworths have grown rich and risen in social standing. Even so, it is clear that Wentworth has not forgiven Anne for her rejection of him. This leads to various complex and awkward situations — situations that force her to grow as a person and become more aware of the selfish machinations of people in society. Due to her father's financial failures, Sir Walter is forced to let the family estate to Admiral Croft, who is Wentworth's brother-in-law.
The old attraction Wentworth felt for Anne is revived, and he begins to see her positive qualities displayed in various situations. He is impressed by her calmness and rationality in a crisis, and his old admiration and affection for her begin to return. Anne and Wentworth eventually reconcile and become engaged once more. This time, because of the changes in the Wentworth family's fortune and status — and because the Elliots themselves have fallen into financial difficulty — the Elliot family finds the match acceptable. Lady Russell, who initially persuaded Anne not to marry Wentworth, now admits that she was wrong to do so.
This very brief synopsis does not begin to do justice to the complexity and richness of the text or to the various subplots that add depth to the novel. As is often the case in Austen's books, the subplots expand on the central characters and themes. In Persuasion these include the important subplots surrounding Mrs. Clay and William Elliot. Through these subplots we see how Anne Elliot becomes more astute in her observations and insight into people, and is no longer easily persuaded by the views of others. For example, she instinctively distrusts William Elliot, and this feeling is vindicated when she discovers the truth about his character and his relationship with Mrs. Smith. As she becomes aware of the way people manipulate others for status, power, and their own ends, Anne begins to understand how persuasion functions in society and starts to rely more on her own judgment.
As is often the case in novels by Jane Austen, the plot is shaped by a central concern with the structure of English society and the demands of class, status, wealth, and decorum. The fact that the central female character is persuaded not to marry has consequences that reverberate throughout the novel.
In essence, the novel is about lost love and love found again — and about the perennial difference between true love and love mediated or corrupted by societal concerns such as class and wealth. Anne's love for Wentworth was perverted by society and by the demands of status and class.
Social status and class consciousness were a deeply endemic part of English society during the period in which Austen wrote. Class stratification and divisions were rigid. In Persuasion, the landed gentry — or upper-middle class — are represented through the Elliot family. Austen makes very clear the "traditions of this structured social group as well as its restricted vision of those outside the group" (Persuasion: Themes).
The concern with class and social status is evident in Sir Walter's interest in the Baronetage, a book recording family history and social standing. Sir Walter Elliot is reminded by it of his "exalted social position" (Persuasion: Themes). However, as one commentator notes, the pride he takes in his social position "has degenerated into an inflated vanity and aesthetic sense, as he can appreciate only things that, like his own visage…" (Persuasion Study Guide).
The character of Sir Walter is important as a symbol of false pride and pretension — everything Austen views as being opposed to natural love and honest relationships. In this sense the novel is also a critique of class pride and superficiality:
"Sir Walter is a traditional gentleman of the landed gentry, the upper-middle level of the British class system. Through his characterization, Austen records all that she finds pretentious and shallow in the most conservatively rigid members of this group. In her detailed depiction of Sir Walter's manners and fashionable pursuits, Austen lays the groundwork for her critique of the superficialities of the middle class." (Perkins)
This shallow view of life is also found in Elizabeth and other characters. Social pride and insensitivity to the feelings of others — born of an over-concern with class and status — is the very reason Anne Elliot is persuaded to decline her engagement with Wentworth. A central intention of the novel is to show how true love is upset and often corrupted by social pretensions (Perkins). Jane Austen's critique of society is extended through the character of William Elliot: Anne is suspicious of him, and he proves himself to be "black and hollow at heart" (Perkins), yet he is accepted by many on the basis of his wealth and status.
When one speaks of social status, concerns about money are never far behind. Monetary wealth is intimately aligned with social standing, and when the Elliots run into financial difficulties as a result of their pretentious living standards, this has profound implications for the plot and its main characters.
Power is another factor that drives the desire for social status. In this novel Austen explores the ways in which power over others is related to class and wealth. The power associated with class hierarchy has already succeeded in changing the direction of Anne's life through the persuasion of Lady Russell. An interesting aspect of the novel is that Austen also examines the shifting patterns of power in the society of her time. As a result of the Napoleonic Wars, a division had arisen in English society between the old aristocracy and the new middle classes represented by individual entrepreneurs. This can be seen in the way that power shifts in the novel between the Elliot and Wentworth families (Persuasion by Jane Austen: In a Nutshell).
"Limited options and double burdens facing women"
"Anne's growth toward self-knowledge and autonomy"
Jane Austen's Persuasion is a love story that is also a narrative exploring the issues of society, class, and the search for self-knowledge and identity in a conformist environment. Anne learns from her mistakes in the process of becoming more aware and independent as a person, and this applies to Captain Wentworth to a certain degree as well. The novel is therefore not only a critique of society but an exploration of human awakening and awareness to the possibilities of life.
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