John Austen's Persuasion Analysis

Misjudgements in Austen’s Persuasion Persuasion, by Jane Austen is a story of a maturing heroine and her second chance at love. Eight years before Persuasion picked up the story, Anne Elliot let herself be persuaded to refuse the man she loved because her family and friends told her she was above him. He left, his heart broken, and resented her for the next eight years. She never loved anyone else, and at the start of this romance novel, she was twenty seven years old, and unmarried. In Persuasion, Austen provides a character study of Anne Elliot who transforms from an easily persuaded young girl to a strong, independent woman; and in doing so changes the lense through which her family, friends and the man she loves view her.

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After Anne was convinced to end their engagement, Captain Wentworth became very angry with Anne for breaking his heart. This is shown at their first meeting after eight years, “Anne did not wish for more of such looks and speeches. His cold politeness, his ceremonious grace, were worse than any thing,” (Austen 67). . When they enter into one another’s lives once more, he gives her a cold shoulder, because he is upset with her, and still thinks she is easily persuaded. He thinks that she can be pushed around by the ones close to her, when in reality, she had the courage to choose him, no matter that her family and friends said. Once they associated a bit more, he started to realize that she had grown up, but he still wasn’t ready to forgive her, as seen on page 84, “He could not forgive her, but he could not be unfeeling,” (Austen 84). This shows that even though he is still angry with her, he is starting to fall for her again. As they became friends again, Captain Wentworth saw that parts of Anne were very different from the Anne he knew eight years before. She had grown up and could make her own choices in life. This realization led him to fall back in love with her, as seen on page 167, “ …, all declared that he had a heart returning to her at least; that anger, resentment, avoidance, were no more; that they were succeeded, not merely by friendship and regard, but by the tenderness of the past, ... He must love her,” (Austen 167). By the end of the novel, he had fallen in love with the heroine, after realizing that she was a capable, grown up woman, who wouldn’t hurt him