A Jane Austen Re-read: Persuasion
Hello,
I’ll be back in the next few days with a few other things, but today, I bring you the last of Jane Austen’s books, Persuasion. This short and sweet book is a great one, and I have been looking forward to it!
There are spoilers below. If you haven’t already read this book or watched one of the movies, this post likely isn’t going to make much sense anyway.
Rereading The Book
Persuasion is the story of 27 year old Anne Elliot, the second daughter of Sir Walter Elliot, a spendthrift landowner who ends up having to relocate to Bath to reduce expenses. Anne is sensible, quiet and reasonable, and has spent her life pleasing everyone around her. When she comes into contact with Captain Frederick Wentworth, her former fiance, they have to unpick 8 years of resentment and regret in order to find lasting happiness with each-other.
The thing about this book that I love the most is that Anne is both good and kind and intelligent but totally believable. She keeps her judgments and opinions to herself, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have conviction and principles, and this balance ends up being part of the backbone of the story.
This is also Austen’s book with characters from the widest variety of classes, which offered a more nuanced view of life than some of her other books. Servants and nurses have speaking roles and unique characteristics here, and the obsession with social standing is thoroughly explored.
Of all of Austen’s books, this feels like it belongs in the real world the most, from having actual dates listed to mentions of the Napoleonic Wars and more. I am only sorry that she does before this was published and that she didn’t continue writing more!
Also, this contains perhaps the most romantic declaration of love in any Austen book.
Written Adaptations
There are very few written adaptations of Persuasion, which sort of baffles me because I feel like in a lot of ways it is one of the most modern of her stories and one of the easiest to adapt.
- Persuaded by Misty Dawn Pulsipher – Modern day retelling
- Persuading Annie by Melissa Nathan – Modern day retelling
- For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund – Post apocalyptic retelling
- Second Chances by Sarah Price – Amish retelling
- Special Mention: Half Hope Blog – A blog adaptation that is a quick and interesting read
Film Adaptations Worth Watching
This is where I hit my happy place again (for one of these at least). There are not that many, but there are some interesting ones! In order of enjoyment, see below:
1.) Persuasion 1995
This is hands down my favorite Jane Austen adaptation on film (with the possible exception of the 1995 Pride and Prejudice). It is beautifully yet simply filmed and feels incredibly real and comfortable. Amanda Root is the perfect Anne Elliot, Ciarán Hinds is a wonderful Captain Wentworth, and their chemistry is fabulous.
This is one of those movies I go back to from time to time just to feel comforted and happy.
2.) Persuasion 1971
You can find this online, and I liked it. It felt incredibly similar to the 1970s version of Emma, in that it almost felt like it was taking place on a stage, and not in the real world. I found the portrayal of Anne to be adequate, but not up to the level of Amanda Root, and I never felt much of a connection to Wentworth.
3.) Rational Creatures (Ongoing)
This web series only has 5 episodes and has only gotten as far as Anne and Wentworth meeting for the first time, but I think it has a lot of promise. This is a diverse, modern day retelling that incorporates diverse sexualities, chronic illnesses and cultural diversity as well, and does it really well.
My one issue with this is that it isn’t a “web series” in that it portrays these characters going about their daily lives instead of giving the videos a context within the story. However the filming style doesn’t feel like it fits as well. I don’t know enough about film-making to know if it is an issue with the cameras they are using or something else, but it makes it hard to really sink in.
4.) Persuasion 2007
Meh. I had a hard time with this. I never warmed to the portrayal of Anne, I found it distracting that her voice over diary entries were accompanied by her scribbling with a feather pen in a way that would NEVER lead to actual handwriting, and there was a LOT of random running.
I’m not totally done with Austen yet (yes I know, I’m sorry), but only because in the course of this, I have become aware of a wonderful, if ridiculous trend, which is Austen animal adaptions, and I can’t wait to share those with you! Have a lovely week, and I will speak to you soon.
