Persuasion was Austen’s last novel, and is considered to be one of her most stylistically mature works. The classic love story centres on Anne Elliot, an unmarried 27-year-old woman who is forced to move to Bath with her family after a bout of extravagant spending puts their finances on the line. There, she crosses paths with an old love: the 31-year-old Captain Wentworth, with whom she was forced to break off a proposal seven years earlier due to his low social status. The newly successful Wentworth, who has won prominence fighting against France in the Napoleonic WarsA series of wars (between 1803 and 1815) between the French Empire under Napoleon and differing European powers. , throws Anne into a tailspin of emotion, and the two grapple with their enduring feelings for each other. The novel was adapted into a sparkling, part-modernised Netflix film in 2022, proving its appeal to modern audiences.
Persuasion
Persuasion was Austen's last novel, and is considered to be one of her most stylistically mature works. The classic love story centres on Anne Elliot, an unmarried 27-year-old woman who is forced to move to Bath with her family after a bout of extravagant spending puts their finances on the line. There, she crosses paths with an old love: the 31-year-old Captain Wentworth, with whom she was forced to break off a proposal seven years earlier due to his low social status. The newly successful Wentworth, who has won prominence fighting against France in the Napoleonic WarsA series of wars (between 1803 and 1815) between the French Empire under Napoleon and differing European powers. , throws Anne into a tailspin of emotion, and the two grapple with their enduring feelings for each other. The novel was adapted into a sparkling, part-modernised Netflix film in 2022, proving its appeal to modern audiences.
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Persuasion deals with a topic constant across Austen's work: the issue of whether marriage should be motivated by love or by social status. Consistently, Austen shows her approval of love matches, but also her sympathy for characters who marry for the sake of financial security or family status. Anne eventually marries for both, and with the benefit of maturity her match with Wentworth becomes arguably more advantageous than it ever was, suggesting that love by itself might not always conquer.
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Persuasion is a social comedy which satirises the status quoA Latin phrase referring to the current or present situation., especially when it comes to class norms. Wealthy, genteelVery polite and refined. Having an aristocratic quality. characters such as Sir Walter and Elizabeth Elliot are caricatured as vain, superficial and careless. Austen's satire is mostly focused on members of the landed gentryA largely historical British social class consisting of land owners who could live entirely from rental income. It was distinct from, and socially "below", the aristocracy or the peerage, although in fact some of the landed gentry were as wealthy as some peers., who she sees as failing to uphold their end of the social bargain and caring only for furthering their own privilege and advantage.
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Independence is hard-won in Persuasion. Anne, for example, is an independent-minded free-thinker. Whereas her father Sir Walter cares little for his tenants or labourers, Anne is more socially responsible and takes care of the affairs of their dependents on her own, demonstrating her self-sufficiency. Yet even she could be convinced to abandon the man she loved for the sake of social status, Austen warns. The novel's eponymousThings that are named after a person or place, etc. theme - persuasion - is presented as a perniciousHarmful. force which undermines independence. Persuasion, which could also be called "social pressure", is part of the social machinery which forces engagements and marriages for the sake of status, and deprives individuals of free choice or independence.
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Critics have described Persuasion as Austen's most radical novel for its dealings with social class. It is unique for exploring social mobility which is brought about by something other than marriage. The navy men in Persuasion have a respectable reputation despite not being members of the gentry, and Wentworth makes a £25,000 fortune from his conquests in the Napoleonic Wars, transforming him from prospectless pauperA very poor person. into eligible bachelor. Meanwhile, the Elliots own a large estate, but their fortunes are in decline due to irresponsibility and lavish spending. This contrast between the rising lower classes and the stagnating upper classes foreshadows a profound social shift in English society which would only fully come into play after Austen's death.
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The saying goes that the apple does not fall far from the tree, but Anne could not be more different from her family. She is a stark foil to her vain father and sister, and as well as to the scheming William Elliot. Where each of them looks to advance their social status and wealth by any possible means, Anne chooses a different, more fulfilling path, setting herself apart from her family.
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Napoleonic Wars - A series of wars (between 1803 and 1815) between the French Empire under Napoleon and differing European powers.
Status quo - A Latin phrase referring to the current or present situation.
Genteel - Very polite and refined. Having an aristocratic quality.
Landed gentry - A largely historical British social class consisting of land owners who could live entirely from rental income. It was distinct from, and socially "below", the aristocracy or the peerage, although in fact some of the landed gentry were as wealthy as some peers.
Eponymous - Things that are named after a person or place, etc.
Pernicious - Harmful.
Pauper - A very poor person.
Persuasion

Glossary
Napoleonic Wars - A series of wars (between 1803 and 1815) between the French Empire under Napoleon and differing European powers.
Status quo - A Latin phrase referring to the current or present situation.
Genteel - Very polite and refined. Having an aristocratic quality.
Landed gentry - A largely historical British social class consisting of land owners who could live entirely from rental income. It was distinct from, and socially “below”, the aristocracy or the peerage, although in fact some of the landed gentry were as wealthy as some peers.
Eponymous - Things that are named after a person or place, etc.
Pernicious - Harmful.
Pauper - A very poor person.