In our final episode on Persuasion, we talk about how much more satisfactory this is than the original ending, the purpose of the discussion between Mrs Croft and Mrs Musgrove, the conversation between Anne and Captain Harville, Wentworth’s letter, his feeling that he had a moral obligation to marry Louisa and the wrap-up of the story.
The character we discuss is Anne Elliot. In the historical section, Michael talks about the British Navy at the end of, and after, the Napoleonic Wars, and for popular culture Harriet discusses various modernised versions of Persuasion.
Things we mention:
General discussion:
- Janet Todd and Antje Blank [Editors], The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Jane Austen: Persuasion (2006)
Character discussion:
- YouTube video: Karolina Żebrowska, Why Does Hollywood Hate Gentle Characters? ‖ Netflix “Persuasion” Review (2022)
Popular culture discussion:
- Melissa Nathan, Persuading Annie (2000)
- Sara Marks, Modern Persuasion (2017)
- Sonali Dev, Recipe for Persuasion (2020)
- Sarah Dass, Where the Rhythm Takes You (2021)
- Uzma Jalaluddin, Much Ado About Nada (2023)
- Melodie Edwards, Once Persuaded Twice Shy (2024)
- Rhombus Media, Slings and Arrows (2003-2006) [mentioned but not a Persuasion adaptation]
- Diana Peterfreund, For Darkness Shows the Stars (2012)
- John Wyndham, The Chrysalids (1955) [mentioned but not a Persuasion adaptation]
- Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (2008) [mentioned but not a Persuasion adaptation]
Creative commons music used:
- Extract from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Sonata No. 12 in F Major, ii. Adagio.
- Extract from Joseph Haydn, Piano Sonata No. 38. Performance by Ivan Ilić, recorded in Manchester in December, 2006. File originally from IMSLP.
- Extract from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Sonata No. 13 in B-Flat Major, iii. Allegretto Grazioso. File originally from Musopen.
- Extract from George Frideric Handel, Suite I, No. 2 in F Major, ii. Allegro. File originally from Musopen.
- Extract from Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 28 in A major. File originally from Musopen.
so what’s next???
please say:
Trollope or Gaskell or Eliot!!
We still have some Austen to go. Northanger Abbey next, then most likely the minor/unfinished set of Lady Susan, The Watsons and Sanditon. Then need to decide about the Junvenilia.
Another great season comes to an end, and with Michael now “on staff” — yay!
Interesting questions about Anne being an improvement on an Elinor type, or whether Anne is even an “interesting” character. I guess I have thought of Charlotte Heywood in “Sanditon” as being an improved Elinor. How do you write “sensible” without stripping someone of humor or making them too judgmental? But Austen places us so close to Anne, practically inside her body at some moments, that we feel a visceral connection that we don’t always feel with the others. Maybe you don’t need the curiosity-piquing mystery of a Jane Fairfax or the complexity of a Mary Crawford when, however straightforward Anne is (if she is), her feelings are so intense and involving. I guess I’m agnostic, but it was a surprising question!
Good point about the overheard conversation between Mrs. Musgrove and Mrs. Croft. I accept the scene and think it’s grounded in the world of the book, but, yes, I could see how in another re-read I might say, “This is awfully convenient.” I feel that way more about the gossipers Wentworth overhears in Molland’s, but I’m not taken out of the story in either case.
Great reminder about Anne’s role as a household mistress who would have to boss servants around, and probably firmly.
I accidentally read a book you’ve mentioned – Barbara Pym’s “Excellent Women”. When I eventually recognized the name Rocky Napier from one of your discussions, I found the Mansfield Park episode where you compared and contrasted him with Henry Crawford. A funny book, and interesting points about Rocky and Henry. Also, belated thanks for the Brideshead Revisited reference in your discussion of the Musgroves’ nanny – a helpful way to picture a custom that seems so strange and remote as continuing closer to our own time.
Well — heyday, Miss Morland.