Week 15 Post 1 - Persuasion
Early in chapter one of Persuasion, Jane Austen writes,
“A few years before, Anne Elliot had been a very pretty girl, but her bloom had vanished early; and as even in its height, her father had found little to admire in her, (so totally different were her delicate features and mild dark eyes from his own), there could be nothing in them, now that she was faded and thin, to excite his esteem. He had never indulged much hope, he had now none, of ever reading her name in any other page of his favourite work. All equality of alliance must rest with Elizabeth, for Mary had merely connected herself with an old country family of respectability and large fortune, and had therefore given all the honour and received none: Elizabeth would, one day or other, marry suitably” (Ch. 1).
I had never read Persuasion before, and from the beginning of the book, I expected this story to be mostly about Elizabeth’s finding of love. Especially when the reader sees the three daughter’s from Sir Elliot’s eyes in this passage. He expects Elizabeth to marry eventually, and this line caused me to think that this would be where the story would go. He paints the image of Anne being past her prime, utterly dull, and unlikely to ever be courted. He casts Mary aside more than Anne, so I assumed Elizabeth would naturally be the primary focus for this story. Anne was just faded, thin, delicate. This description of her makes it shocking to me that she has multiple men attracted to her and courting her. Even Mr. Elliot has to do a double take when he sees her. Looking back on this description proves how skewed her father’s perspective of her is and how poorly he views her.
Austen, Jane. “Persuasion” The Complete Novels, Kindle ed., Centaur Editions, 2015.