Persuasion is the last novel completed by the English author Jane Austen. It was published on 20 December 1817, along with Northanger Abbey, six months after her death, although the title page is dated 1818.
The story concerns Anne Elliot, an Englishwoman of 27 years, whose family moves to Bath to lower their expenses and reduce their debt by renting their estate to an admiral and his wife. The wife's brother, Captain Frederick Wentworth, was engaged to Anne in 1806, but the engagement was broken when Anne was persuaded by her friends and family to end their relationship. Anne and Captain Wentworth, both single and unattached, meet again after a separation lasting almost eight years, setting the scene for a second, well-considered chance at love and marriage for Anne.
The novel was well received in the early 19th century, but its greater fame came later in the century and continued into the 20th and 21st centuries. Much scholarly debate on Austen's work has since been published. Anne Elliot is noteworthy among Austen's heroines for her relative maturity. As Persuasion was Austen's last completed work, it is accepted as her most maturely written novel, showing a refinement of literary conception indicative of a woman approaching 40 years of age. Her use of free indirect speech in narrative was in full evidence by 1816.
Persuasion has been the subject of several adaptations, including four made-for-television adaptations, theatre productions, radio broadcasts, and other literary works.
Plot
Set seven years after the broken engagement of Anne Elliot to Frederick Wentworth, having just turned nineteen years old, Anne fell in love and had accepted a proposal of marriage from Wentworth, whom then a young- and as yet- undistinguished naval officer. Wentworth was considered clever, confident and ambitious, but his low social status and lack of wealth made Anne's family — her vain father Sir Walter Elliot and her older sister Elizabeth — view him as an unsuitable match for the daughter of a baronet. Lady Russell, a distant relative whom Anne had considered a second mother since the death of her own, also saw the relationship as imprudent for one so young and persuaded Anne to break off the engagement. Sir Walter, Elizabeth, and Lady Russell are the only family members who knew about the short engagement, as Anne's younger sister, Mary, was away at school.
Several years later the Elliot family are in financial trouble on account of Sir Walter's lavish spending. This had been kept in check while Lady Elliot was alive, but Sir Walter and Elizabeth have since spent without thought. Forced into action at last, they are persuaded to let Kellynch Hall, the family estate, and settle in Bath until their finances improve. Sir Walter, Elizabeth, and Elizabeth's new companion, Mrs Clay, look forward to the move. Anne, on the other hand, doubts she will enjoy Bath but cannot go against her family. Mary is now married to Charles Musgrove of Uppercross Hall, the heir to a respected local squire. Anne visits Mary and her family, where she is well-loved. As the Napoleonic Wars are over, Admiral Croft and his wife Sophia (Frederick's sister) become the new tenants of Kellynch Hall. Captain Wentworth, now wealthy from prize ships he captured in the war, visits his sister and meets the Uppercross family, where he crosses paths with Anne.
The Musgroves — including Mary, Charles, and Charles's sisters Henrietta and Louisa — welcome the Crofts and Captain Wentworth, who makes it clear that he is ready to marry. Both the Crofts and the Musgroves enjoy speculating about which sister Wentworth might marry. The Musgroves' cousin, the young clergyman Charles Hayter, who is absent when Wentworth is introduced to their social circle, returns and is rather upset over Henrietta's apparent interest in Wentworth as Hayter has been wooing her. However, when Charles Hayter stops visiting so often, Henrietta realises where her true affections lie, and now it seems that a match between Louisa and Wentworth will soon follow. Anne still loves Wentworth, so each meeting with him requires preparation for her own strong emotions. She overhears a conversation in which Louisa tells Wentworth that Charles Musgrove had first proposed to Anne, who turned him down; so he later married Mary. This news startles Wentworth, and Anne realises that he has not yet forgiven her for letting herself be persuaded to end their engagement years ago.
Anne and the young adults of the Uppercross family accompany Captain Wentworth on a visit to see two of his fellow officers, Captains Harville and Benwick, in the coastal town of Lyme Regis. Captain Benwick is in mourning over the death of his fiancée, Captain Harville's sister Fanny, and he appreciates Anne's sympathy and understanding, helped by their mutual admiration for the Romantic poets. At Lyme, Anne attracts the attention of a young man they later learn is William Elliot, her cousin and a wealthy widower who is heir to Kellynch Hall; he broke ties with his family years earlier and was reported to have spoken disrespectfully of Sir Walter and Elizabeth. On the last morning of the visit, Louisa sustains a serious concussion after willfully insisting on jumping from the Cobb seawall a second time, expecting to be caught again by Wentworth. He tries to dissuade her from such a big jump, but she is determined and jumps a fraction of a second before Wentworth is ready. Anne organises others to summon assistance. Wentworth is impressed with Anne's quick thinking and cool-headedness but feels guilty about his actions concerning Louisa. He now sees that his encouraging her to never allow anyone to persuade her to anything was a serious error, resulting in her injury. This causes him to re-examine his feelings for Anne. Louisa, due to her delicate condition, is forced to recover at the Harvilles' home in Lyme for months. Captain Benwick, who was a guest as well, helps in Louisa's recovery by attending and reading to her.
Following Louisa's accident, Anne joins her father and sister in Bath, with Lady Russell also in the city. Captain Wentworth visits his older brother Edward in Shropshire. Anne finds that her father and sister are flattered by the attentions of their cousin William Elliot, thinking that if he marries Elizabeth, the family fortunes will be restored. William flatters Anne and offhandedly mentions that he was "fascinated" with the name of his future wife already being an "Elliot" who would rightfully take over for her late mother, but teasingly refuses to tell her who had talked fondly of her to him in the past. Although Anne wants to like William, the attention he pays her and his refined manners, she finds his character opaque and difficult to judge.
Admiral Croft and his wife arrive in Bath with the news that Louisa is engaged to Captain Benwick. Wentworth travels to Bath, where his jealousy is piqued by seeing William courting Anne. Anne visits Mrs Smith, an old school friend, who is now a widow living in Bath under straitened circumstances, and in the early days of recovery from serious illness. From her, Anne discovers that she was the person who spoke fondly of her to William Elliott. She reveals that beneath William's charming veneer is a cold, calculating opportunist who led Mrs Smith's late husband into debt. He had frequently obtained money from the good-natured but easily manipulated Mr Smith before William's marriage to a very wealthy woman, who has since died. However, when Mr Smith became ill, William made no attempt to aid his friend. Named as the executor to Mr Smith's will before the Smiths learned of his true nature, William has done nothing to help Mrs Smith. She needs someone to act for her in regards to a property of her husband's, which she is too ill to deal with herself and too poor to employ someone to do it for her. She asked William to act for her, but he made it clear he had no intention of doing anything. Although Mrs Smith believes that William is genuinely attracted to Anne, she feels that his initial aim was to prevent Mrs Clay from marrying Sir Walter — rumours abound in Bath that this is Mrs Clay's aim, along with astonishment that Elizabeth does not realise this. A new marriage might mean a son for Sir Walter, displacing William as heir to Kellynch Hall. The discovery that the young lady he had admired in Lyme is his cousin Anne is a wonderful bonus for William.
The Musgroves visit Bath to purchase wedding clothes for Louisa and Henrietta, both soon to marry. Captains Wentworth and Harville encounter them and Anne at the Musgroves' hotel in Bath, where Wentworth overhears Anne and Harville discussing the relative faithfulness of men and women in love. Deeply moved by what Anne says about women not giving up their feelings of love even when all hope is lost, Wentworth writes her a note declaring his feelings for her. Outside the hotel, Anne and Wentworth reconcile, reaffirm their love for each other, and renew their engagement. Lady Russell admits she was wrong about Wentworth and endorses the engagement. William leaves Bath; Mrs Clay soon follows him and becomes his mistress, making it more likely that he will inherit Kellynch Hall as the danger of her marrying Sir Walter has passed. Once Anne and Wentworth have married, he helps Mrs Smith recover her remaining assets. Anne settles into her new life as the wife of a Navy captain.
Main characters
Anne Elliot – The second daughter of Sir Walter Elliot. Anne is intelligent, accomplished and attractive, and is unmarried at 27, having broken off seven years earlier her engagement to Frederick Wentworth, then a naval commander. Anne fell in love with Wentworth but was persuaded by her late mother's friend, Lady Russell, to reject his proposal because of his uncertain prospects and lack of money, and Anne's youth. Anne rejects Charles Musgrove's proposal a few years later, knowing she still loves Wentworth, but it is only when Wentworth returns from fighting abroad that she finally confronts her unfulfilled feelings for him.
Captain Frederick Wentworth – A naval officer, about 31 years old, who proposed to Anne some seven years earlier. At the time, he had no fortune and uncertain prospects, but owing to his achievements in the Napoleonic Wars, he advanced in rank and in fortunes. He is one of Sophia Croft's two brothers. He gained his step to post Captain, and gained wealth amounting to about £25,000 from prize money awarded for capturing enemy vessels. He is an eminently eligible bachelor, eager to settle down with a good woman.
Sir Walter Elliot, Bt. – A vain and self-satisfied baronet. Sir Walter is a man whose extravagance since the death of his prudent wife thirteen years before has put his family into dire financial straits, forcing him to lease his estate, Kellynch Hall, to Admiral Croft and rent a more economical residence in Bath. Despite being strongly impressed by wealth and status, he allows Mrs Clay, who is beneath him in social standing, to join his household as a companion to his eldest daughter.
Elizabeth Elliot – The eldest and most beautiful of Sir Walter's three daughters, who appears to be his favourite. Elizabeth encourages her father's imprudent spending and extravagance and like her father, she has a tendency to be narcissistic, while she herself desires marriage after spending most of her life managing the family home in her mother's place. She and her father regard Anne as inconsequential, wanting to ensure only that she marries a man who can enhance the Elliot family's social standing.