“Persuasion” by Jane Austen: A Measured, Pertinent, Critical Response.
Posted by: imani on: March 28, 2008
- OMG, Anne Elliot is the most adorable character EVER. BFF!
- Admiral Croft too! His gratifyingly open, perfectly amiable dialogue seems to envelope the reader in addition to any character he addresses. Curious as to how such admirable older male characters are never the fathers of Austen’s heroines, no? Interesting…
- The book is almost DONE and ol’ Cap’n Wentworth still hasn’t made any moves yet. It’s killing me, damn it, go ravish Anne already! My heart broke ten times at least, since you two became reacquainted. The suspense! Argh.
14 Responses to "“Persuasion” by Jane Austen: A Measured, Pertinent, Critical Response."
March 28, 2008 at 4:01 pm
I’ve sometimes wondered what Austen’s own father, who was apparently not himself entirely vain, useless, and/or absent, thought of his daughter’s treatment of the subject. The father is either absent or a sort of buffoon in all six novels.
March 29, 2008 at 12:01 am
Aww! I jsut finished rereading Northanger Abbey tonight, and now I want to do a review like this! lol
March 29, 2008 at 10:39 am
amcorrea I think it will rank right up there for me, along with Northanger Abbey and Emma (and Mansfield Park). It’s certainly one of two out of her novels that I love especially because of the heroine. (Catherine is my other favourite.)
I’d like to add Pride & Prejudice but, truth be told, although I remember it clearly because I studied it for A levels and I don’t remember my whole response to it beyond the various themes and such that I had to tackle for exams. Time for a re-read.
Amateur Reader thank you for mentioning that! I was planning to go off and google for that myself at some future date. Austen tends to be very forgiving of the mothers and mother-figures but the Dads rarely seem to get a break.
Dorothy hehe, you ought to, for my benefit, as I think you’d have a lot of productive remarks to make on Austen’s writing style, as there’s a definite change from her previous novels — a lot less formally mannered, more intimate, even a little more modern? She would have to die after she wrote this, darn it.
The introduction writer touched on this but boy, I never thought my eyes would glaze at a close reading of writing style. But all that identifications of “triads” linking back to Fielding, and Augustian influences, yadda yadda yadda…I might try again though.
Sylvia ha! It was a lovely follow-up to Emma actually, because I found the too perfect Mr. Knightley perfectly irritating.
Eva you should, you should! I hope you enjoyed it as it’s one of my favourite Austens and severely underrated, IMO.
Andi that’s what I like to hear. 
March 29, 2008 at 1:31 pm
I strongly recommend “Sanditon” as well. There’s ony about 60 pages of it, but Austen is clearly further pushing some of the stylistic refinements she developed in “Persuasion”. The scene with the hypochondriac buttering his toast is, by itself, genius. It would have been another great novel.
March 29, 2008 at 4:34 pm
I’m reading some of her juvenalia right now and, much as I love good ol’ Austen, I don’t think I’ll be able to get through it. Maybe I’ll replace it with Sandition.
March 29, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Isn’t Persuasion wonderful? Your post made me smile from ear to ear
March 30, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Aww. When I was younger I admit that Persuasion sounded like the most boring of her her major works. Nice to see I was proven wrong (although maybe I wouldn’t have appreciated it as much in my teens).
March 31, 2008 at 8:18 pm
I completely agree-Northanger is one my very favourites! I’m pretty sure you and I are Austen twins, in which ones we like most and which ones we like least. 
April 2, 2008 at 9:34 pm
Ha! I just saw your comment over at Danielle’s blog — we really are Austen twins.
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March 28, 2008 at 2:10 pm
It’s my favorite of her novels. So much tied into this last, heartrending work. But yes, Wentworth *is* a bit slow…