Persuasion

Persuasion is a wonderful book. It's one of Austen's shorter novels, and it's so clean and streamlined and perfect. It begins with the Elliot family. Sir Walter Elliot is a handsome, middle-aged man who lost his wife some years before. His wife was sensible, but he is a silly, vain man. He has three daughters. His favorite is the eldest, Elizabeth, who was a beauty when she was young but is now thirty years old. The second, Anne, was also beautiful, but lost her bloom early and is now faded and pale. Anne, however, is the kindest, most elegant, and most intelligent of the three sisters. She is in her late twenties. The youngest, Mary, is the only one who is married. She wed Charles Musgrove, who originally courted Anne but was refused.

Anne refused him because she loves another man, Frederick (now Captain) Wentworth. Ten years before, he courted her and the two were very in love. He was handsome, bold, and clever, but just beginning his career in the navy and didn't have a steady income. Anne's mother's best friend, Lady Russell, advised Anne not to marry Wentworth. She said that Anne was still young and could be approached again. Anne believes, moreover, that she is doing Wentworth a favor when she breaks the engagement. Ten years later, Anne is still unmarried and still in love.

Her father, it turns out, is in debt. He agrees to rent out Kellynch-Hall, their country estate, to lower expenses. He decides that the whole family will move to Bath. Although Sir Walter has a low opinion of the navy-- the men are too weather-beaten there-- he agrees to rent the Hall to Admiral and Mrs. Croft. Mrs. Croft just happens to be the sister of Captain Wentworth, and Anne is thrown into tumult to think that her beloved might soon be living in the house she currently occupies. The whole family is soon to leave for Bath. Anne doesn't want to go with them, but Lady Russell is going to be moving around and can't really invite her to stay with her, either. Luckily, Anne's sister Mary is feeling unwell and invites Anne to come stay with her to nurse her for a while. In Anne's place, a Mrs. Clay is invited to come to Bath with the Elliots. Sir Walter is not threatened by Mrs. Clay, because she has freckles and strange teeth, and Elizabeth likes her, but Anne sees that Mrs. Clay will probably try to "set her cap" at her father.

Sir Walter, Elizabeth, and Mrs. Clay set off for Bath and Anne goes to visit Mary. Mary is ill-tempered and petulant, but Anne is kind to her. Charles Musgrove is a sensible young man whose flaws are indulged by Mary's bad company, but is generally good. Anne plays with their children and entertains Mary. They all often visit Charles's family, which lives nearby: his mother and father, and two lively and pretty sisters, Henrietta and Louisa. The Crofts move into Kellynch-Hall and the Musgroves visit them. Anne gets to meet the Crofts when they return the visit, and likes them very much. Mrs. Croft is energetic and Mr. Croft is kind. Anne finds out after the visit that Captain Wentworth is home from sea and is coming to visit the Crofts. The Musgroves decide to meet him, because he was kind to their son, Dick Musgrove, who was a good-for-nothing and (apparently, luckily) died at sea.

The Musgroves visit Captain Wentworth as soon as he arrives, and he returns the visit. Anne is to meet him again at dinner, but one of Mary and Charles's sons breaks his collarbone and Anne offers to nurse him while the others are at dinner. Wentworth does come to call again, when he spends the morning with the Musgroves, and his reintroduction to Anne is uneventful. He is cool to her. He reveals to his sister that he is looking to marry, but not Anne Elliot; he thinks of either of the Musgrove sisters. The two spend a lot of time together in company with the Musgrove family, but he is always formal and polite with her, and lively and charming with the others. Both Louisa and Henrietta are in love with him, or seem to be, even though Henrietta was being pursued by her cousin Charles Hayter previously. Wentworth is occasionally kind to her; when Anne's nephew Walter climbs on her and won't leave her alone, Wentworth pulls him off.

One morning, however, Anne overhears Louisa and Wentworth talking and hears Wentworth criticizing the lack of a firm character in women. She thinks that Louisa and Wentworth will probably marry, but is still pleased when he shows her kindness and courtesy. He notices that she is tired and insists that she ride back from a walk in the carriage, and even lifts her into the carriage.

Captain Wentworth receives a letter from his friend, Captain Harville, inviting him to come visit him in Lyme. All of the young people go on the visit, as they are eager to go to the sea. Anne Elliot makes friends with a Captain Benwick, who is melancholy and plain, and eager for female company. He was engaged to Fanny Harville, Captain Harville's sister, but she died while he was at sea. Captain Benwick isn't the only man to admire Anne while in Lyme; one day, on the beach, a man stops and admires Anne, which Wentworth notices. They find out later that the man is their cousin, Mr. Elliot, heir to Sir Walter, and who snubbed Elizabeth many years before.

While in Lyme, Louisa has an accident when she is jumping down from stiles into Captain Wentworth's arms. She jumps too soon and hits her head on the ground. Wentworth is upset but Anne takes action. Louisa's situation looks grave. Anne and Henrietta go with Wentworth to tell Mr. and Mrs. Hargrove the news back at their home, and then Anne sees Wentworth leave. A few days later, Anne leaves to go visit Lady Russell. Mary and Charles visit them with reports of Louisa's improvement, and Captain Benwick's admiration for Anne. Anne is a little taken by the idea of Captain Benwick pining for her. After some time near Kellynch, Lady Russell and Anne leave for Bath.

Anne finds that Mr. Elliot, her cousin, has been visiting her sister and father. Sir Walter complains about the unattractive women in Bath. That evening, Mr. Elliot calls on the family and is surprised to see that the attractive woman he saw in Lyme is his cousin, Anne. Anne, in turn, is pleased by Mr. Elliot's good looks and pleasant manner. Anne is a little bit less at ease about the relationship between Mrs. Clay and Sir Walter. Anne spends her time in Bath visiting an old school-friend, Mrs. Smith, who is ill and poor and lives in disreputable lodgings. She hears from Mary, who reports that Louisa is engaged to Captain Benwick, not Wentworth. It seems that Henrietta and Charles Hayter will be married, once more. The Crofts come to Bath and the Elliots associate with them. Wentworth soon joins them.

After Wentworth has come, Anne finds herself walking alone on the street one day. It starts to rain and Anne ducks into a sweetshop. She sees Wentworth walking down the street, and he steps into the shop with a group of friends, and seems very surprised and embarrassed to see her. He offers Anne his umbrella, but Mr. Elliot comes in to take her home instead. After they have left, the men and women in the shop speculate about the relationship between Anne and Mr. Elliot. Before a concert the next evening, Wentworth and Anne have a conversation, and Anne feels inclined to believe that Wentworth might still love her. However, at the concert, Wentworth sees how attentive Mr. Elliot is and draws back. Anne is upset at what his jealousy might do.

When Anne visits Mrs. Smith next, Mrs. Smith reveals the true state of Mr. Elliot's character. He is selfish and calculating, and pretended to be friends with her husband but actually abandoned him to poverty. Anne is horrified and realizes that she might actually have accepted him if he had proposed. Mary and the Musgroves come to Bath to plan the weddings for the Musgrove daughters. While Anne is with them at the hotel, they see Mrs. Clay and Mr. Elliot meeting in the street, although Mr. Elliot is supposed to be out of town.

Later, Anne and Captain Harville discuss constancy and inconstancy in men and women. Anne advocates the everlasting love of women, while Harville argues for men. Captain Wentworth eavesdrops on them and writes a letter to Anne, saying that he has loved only her and waits to hear if she loves him in return. She is ecstatic. Charles starts to take her home, but Wentworth overtakes them and escorts Anne instead. The two reveal their love for each other and are engaged once more. Wentworth says that he never loved Louisa, but found himself nearly engaged out of stupidity. Anne still believes that in some way, she acted correctly ten years ago, but tells him that she would have accepted him years before, if he had approached her.

Mr. Elliot and Mrs. Clay flee. All is well-- the engagement is taken fairly well, because Sir Walter acknowledges Captain Wentworth's good looks and Lady Russell his good character-- and even Mrs. Smith ends up happily.