Persuasion

I'm well into Persuasion, and I'm liking it, but I need someone to sell me on it. I think that there are merits that I'm not picking up on (I'm going through a rather stressful period, and have to admit I'm a titch distracted). I think Anne is charming and likable, but I'm not seeing her *do* a whole lot.

So, Persuasion lovers, tell me why I too should LOVE this book.

Where exactly are you in the book? I don't want to talk about things you have not yet read and spoil it for you. I'll say that among other things I like the star-crossed lovers and unrequited passion. She has all the good sense in her family. I also think that her hardships make her a better stronger person. I like the characterization of the other characters. Her snob father and sisters. Mr. Eliot who will inherit. Mrs. Clay. The Musgroves. All these things work to make it my favorite Austen.

I'm on chapter 10, so I have 3 chapters left to read. I read a big chunk last night after I posted here, and I must say that I'm warming up to it more as it goes along. I'm still finding Anne a bit on the passive side.

Well yes, you might call her passive, but she is a woman of her time. Also when something is important to her, like her loyalty to her sick friend she stands her ground. And though she may be as you say rather passive, she has not succumbed to the snobbery and silliness of her family. She does not stand on ceremony with the Musgroves. She took charge when Louisa Musgrove falls. In her own quite way she is her own woman.

Persuasion is a unique story of Austen's because Anne is a good deal older than Austen's other heroines and there is such depth and maturity in the love story. I'm trying to be vague here because I hate spoilers... it's not the typical girl-and-guy-meet-and-deal-with-obstacles-to-their-relationship-all-at-once story. Anne is in her late twenties (27? 29? I can't remember). She has had time to think about her life and come to well-thought-out decisions.

I think that Anne's passive nature is part of what makes her endearing. There she is, surrounded by family members who are obsessed with the trivial and shallow aspects of life, and yet she is the black sheep for wanting a modest and quiet happiness. Also, the reason that she was previously "persuaded" by bad advice was that she didn't have enough backbone to stand up for herself. I think that she starts out this way in the book, and steadily improves her character throughout. She'll never be confrontational, but at least she learns how to claim what she wants in life.

Magpie

She's a bit of a Jane, after all - if your favourite Austen book is P&P, for example, then you probably want a more 'modern', or at least dynamic character to propel the story forward, and to really connect to. Imagine how dull the Bennets would have been without Lizzie in their midst!

In my opinion, the letter Capt. Wentworth writes to Anne is one of the greatest love letters of all time. :) Well worth finishing the book to read that!

You've got that right, MollyGibson!! Gives me goosebumps every time.

And I think #6 hits it on the head as to why I love Anne and Persuasion so much.

And Ciaran Hinds reading that letter of his character Wentworth in the Amanda Root movie version gives me goosebumps :-P

Oh yes indeedy!! ;)

OOOoooh! and then she walks out and he is standing there!

That's it... now I have to go home and watch the movie again.... ;)

And I have to buy it on DVD. I haven't watched it forever!

Has anyone seen the 1971 Persuasion? The DVD cover looks really silly.

While we are on the DVD topic, has anyone ever seen a good version of Mansfield Park or Northanger Abbey that they can recommend?

edited for touchstones and a typo

And now I want to watch it again... LOL. I need to buy it too.

*echoes comskibook #15* I have never seen either of those as movies, but I would like to. Any recommendations?

I don't know if they are any good, but I recall that new adaptations of Mansfield and Northanger were done recently in Britain (BBC, maybe?) and will be shown on PBS starting in Jan 2008 as part of some Austen festival of films.

Thanks fannyprice. I'll be on the lookout for them :-)

You should definitely read the user comments for the 2007 Persuasion, on imdb: http://imdb.com/title/tt0844330/

It does sound rather horrible, and the casting looks off. (What is Giles doing there? Is Captain Wentworth really a vampire? &c.)

Also, Northanger Abbey: http://imdb.com/title/tt0847182/
What is Dexter Fletcher doing there?! Apparently not a faithful adaption at all.

Alright, discuss this instant, I beg of you.

I'm afraid I just can't get Rupert Penry-Jones as Captain Wentworth!

Regarding Persuasion - this is probably my favourite Jane Austen book; it's just beautiful.

I remember reading that a lot of people didn't like the casting of Billie Piper as Fanny Price as Mansfield Park.

The ITV version of Northanger Abbey is actually very good. It may not follow the book accurately but Andrew Davies' script manages to convey the spirit of the novel.

Billie Piper was too modern to be a successful Fanny Price which meant that Mansfield Park was stillborn.

Persuasion could have worked but the director obviously decided that he would liven it up by employing a more modern approach to the camerawork. The 'new' ending was a real disaster.

Good to know - thanks for posting. Despite the bad press, I will still probably look for them on TV come January.

The 1971 version is TERRIBLE. I rented it and couldn't get through the first half hour.

I think like many of us who love to read, Anne is an observer of human nature, and an astute one at that, and that is a very sympathetic quality. Also, I don't see her as passive, I see her as a realist and as someone who doesn't need the spotlight. Where Austen's other books are all about the heroines making youthful mistakes in the midst of the novels, this one is about what happens years later when a youthful mistake can't be made right at the time. Which, in real life, is usually how it works--we have to move on and figure out how to live with the choices we've made. The older I get, the more I prefer this novel over Austen's others. Of course, it is also so satisfying that she ultimately can fix that mistake, and she gets the hunky guy over the flashier types!

Though I am in the US, I ordered all the ITV Jane Austen movies from Amazon.com and I have to say that I was beyond glad that I did. I know so many have ragged on Persuasion but I LOVED it. Rupert Penry-Jones as Wentworth was indescribably wonderful. He was likable, relatable and even though he is obviously angry at Anne, you feel so much empathy for both of them. Sally Hawkins gives a stunning performance as Anne Elliot and she makes you feel her pain. There were scenes where she is so heart broken and I felt my heart constrict because I felt like it was happening to me.

Where there changes made to the original work? Certainly but as far as I was concerned, they did not detract from the overall story. It was beautiful and my goodness, not since Richard Armitage in North and South have I seen a man convey so much with his looks. For those of you in the States I can't wait till PBS begins showing it January 13th and you can see all these adaptations for yourself.

I can say that this movie made me love this book even more and I went back and re-read it and its now firmly in second place after P&P.

My favorite amongst these ITV productions were Persuasion and Northanger Abbey. I liked Mansfield Park but I was not blown away by it. I still prefer the Frances O'Connor one which everyone seems to hate :)

>26 TrishNYC:, TrishNYC - I don't hate the Frances O'Connor film as a film in itself, I just am ambivalent toward it as an adaptation of MP. But maybe I'll start a new thread or something, since I feel guilty talking only about MP in the Persuasion thread! :)

While he did a credible job in the part, Rupert Penry-Jones was too pretty to be believable as a naval captain. As Anne's father noted, naval officers look beat up, because they were (most of them first went to sea as pre-teens - 15 or 16 was generally too old!). Now, Ciaran Hinds certainly looked the part. (He was also a wonderful Julius Caesar in HBO's spectacular ROME series. Jane Austen, it ain't.)

And yes, the tacked on "happy ending" was silly. Especially them waltzing on the lawn.

(Edited for typos - oops)

I enjoyed parts of the new adaptation but they messed about with the order of the story so much and missed the letter scene out completely which I thought was a big mistake. I hated the kissing at the end-too over the top.

I agree with mess 8

The letter from Capt. Wentworth is worth the whole book. Anne is an older woman compared to other Austen books and she feels the pain of never having "gotten over" her love for this man who wanted to spend his life with her and she listened to others and said no to his proposal. Now, she has a mind of her own. She is a very strong, passionate character. I always thought she was also making a point about second chances. Was it fate that they met or did he always want her as much as she wanted him?

Persuasion is one of my favourite Austen works. Anne may be quiet, but she is a great judge of character because she is a good listener. She is also very confident in her judgements, a quality she has acquired in her "older" years.

Note that to the end, Anne defends the choice she made years back in breaking off the engagement, even though she regretted it after, she still felt that it was not the wrong choice to make at the time. This shows that Anne may be quiet and accommodating, but she knows herself and will stand up for herself not just to her father and Lady Russell, but also to Captain Wentworth.

>31Persuasion is one of my favourite Austen works. Anne may be quiet, but she is a great judge of character because she is a good listener. She is also very confident in her judgements, a quality she has acquired in her "older" years.
Note that to the end, Anne defends the choice she made years back in breaking off the engagement, even though she regretted it after, she still felt that it was not the wrong choice to make at the time. This shows that Anne may be quiet and accommodating, but she knows herself and will stand up for herself not just to her father and Lady Russell, but also to Captain Wentworth.

Really, I couldn't have said it better. I think one of the main points is that Anne, in her youth, let her better judgment be overcome by those older, more experienced people around her. Even though she regretted the decision, she felt she didn't really have any choice at the time. The fact that Anne is a good judge of character is eveidenced by the fact that she distrusts her cousin, while everyone else thinks he is quite the gentleman. The best thing about Anne is that she is nothing like the rest of her family! She is sweet and sensible and non-elitist.

I love Anne too.