Innerly Persuasion
In Jane Austen’s “Persuasion,” Anne is initially represented as “Anne Elliot.” Anne is a product of the Elliot family, and that is a large part of what defines her in the beginning of the novel. However, as Anne progresses, she begins to question her surroundings and her place in her family. To borrow Bakhtin’s view on the analysis of a novel, what has been unquestionable authoritative discourse to Anne shifts to something subject to scruple, or innerly persuasive. What Anne has been spoon-fed from childhood comes down to her inability to move outside of her restrictions. Her restrictions include her expected propriety, her representation of her family’s social standing, and her altruistic tendencies toward those around her. As Anne weathers her condition as a sheep in the Elliot family, she seems to be a victim of her own selflessness. Eventually, she questions her reality and begins to take hold of new truths that are innerly persuasive to her. This takes place when options that had been imposed upon her become options that are proposed to her. When the innerly persuasive takes over, the future is unplugged of its former restrictions, and her prospects open wide.
In the beginning of the novel, there is a narrator that lays the foundation of the Elliot family particulars with impartiality. This takes place before Anne can take up the role of narrator, so that the groundwork is laid in a way that is accurate. Were Anne to describe her family, she would most likely represent them in such a way as to skim over some of their less desirable traits. This is due to Anne’s good heart and her relative inability at this early point in the novel, to identify negative characteristics in people. This is revealed through Austen’s use of Anne’s free indirect discourse. Through free indirect discourse, Anne’s consciousness reveals her abstinence from condemnation toward people she is surrounded with.
When the Elliot household is forced to face the reality of their financial situation, Anne contributes by composing her own ideas regarding the actions necessary to right the monetary course and spell their financial problems. Her revered mentor Lady Russell’s ideas concerning the situation are vehemently denied by Sir Walter, and Anne’s more drastic measures are not even brought up, because of Anne’s suspicion that they would be further repudiated by Elizabeth and Sir Walter. She is consequentially forced to eventually retire to Bath, a social circle she is opposed to, due to her introverted nature. However, before she is forced into “captivity” in Bath, Anne is obligated to attend her sister Mary, who is “ill.” Elizabeth, being the thoughtful sister she is, facilitates Mary in her distressing situation: “Then I am sure Anne had better stay, for nobody will want her in Bath” (Austen, 27). Alas, Anne is eventually compelled to remove to Bath. Since Lady Russell, her most honored authority, could not hold back this storm, her migration to Bath is imposed upon her. “Its inertia, its semantic finiteness and calcification, the degree to which it is hard-edged, a thing in its own right, the impermissibility of any free stylistic development in relation to it-all this renders the artistic representation of authoritative discourse impossible” (Bakhtin, 344). Of course, Austen is not artistically representing authoritative discourse; she is only representing Anne in her struggle against it. Not only is the authoritative artistically impossible to convey, it is also impossible for Anne to accomplish her potential while this authority holds sway over her. In this manner, Lady Russell’s opinion serves as authoritative discourse to Anne, and since it is unalterable, it is a prison for Anne.
Upon the renewed introduction of Captain Wentworth to Anne’s social circle, her naive and demure mind leads her to believe that Wentworth despises her. In conjunction with her heightened sense of propriety, this notion is what keeps the two apart. These are Anne’s thoughts upon her meeting with Capt. Wentworth for the first time since their disengagement: “Her eye half met Captain Wentworth’s; a bow, a courtsey passed; she heard his voice...’’the worst is over’” (Austen, 50). The forced propriety of the drawing room scene, along with the standoffish nature of her family’s mark on her compels them to uphold an aloof separation from each other.
Anne’s upholding of social norms is but another part of the propriety that she is shackled by. She is often forced into an undesirable circumstance, simply by following the propriety that is expected of her. When she wants to go to the play rather than assiduously vie for the attention of the rich and powerful, she cannot, but she gives Mrs. Musgrove an explanation:
If it depended only on my inclination, ma’am, the party at home (excepting on Mary’s account) would not be the smallest impediment. I have no pleasure in the sort of meeting, and should be too happy to change it for a play, and with you. But, it had better not be attempted, perhaps (Austen, 194).
Through free indirect discourse, it can be noted that Anne is forced into an unfavorable situation with Mr. Elliot during the concert. While Anne’s imagination is occupied by thoughts of Captain Wentworth, Mr. Elliot sees fit to interrupt because “she must be applied to, to explain Italian again…Anne could not refuse; but never had she sacrificed to politeness with a more suffering spirit” (Austen, 163).
Anne, although not one to continually flout her family’s name, is no slouch when it comes to the obligation not to disgrace the glorious legacy of Elliot. Anne abides under the social restrictions she is placed under due to her membership in the Elliot family. Her social obligation to marry someone of means is a foil to her happiness with Wentworth. “Lady Russell, whom she had always loved and relied upon, could not, with such steadiness of opinion, and such tenderness of manner, be continually advising her in vain. She was persuaded to believe the engagement a wrong thing” (Austen, 22). Lady Russell, whose advice possesses considerable sway over Anne’s judgment, persuades Anne that Frederick is not worthy of someone of her familial status. In this way, Lady Russell’s counsel is once again authoritative discourse to Anne, and Anne is lassoed by Lady Russell’s unyielding advice.
Captain Wentworth, who is an exemplary model of all that is right in the novel, provides an explanation of an admirable character. Although, not addressed to Anne, Wentworth’s speech provides a signpost to light the way, and rid Anne of her beguilement of the authoritative discourse she is entrapped by: “A beautiful and glossy nut, which, blessed with original strength, has outlived all the storms of autumn. Not a puncture, not a weak spot any where. This nut… while so many of its brethren have fallen and been trodden under foot, is still in possession of all the happiness that a hazel-nut can be supposed capable of” (Austen, 75). The Captain’s conception of a firm character is synonymous with the objective that must be reached by Anne before she can find her fulfillment, and be released from the authoritative discourse that holds her in captivity.
The innocence (or naivety) of Anne keeps her partially immune to the recognition of the negative traits in others. Her own good nature and perception of the world around her holds her back. Since Anne is so conscientious, this trait is something she attributes to others as well. That is, until she learns the full story behind the dubitable Mr. Elliot. Although quite intuitive, Anne cannot fully understand the evil in others because it does not exist in her. Then returns Mr. Elliot, the man whose character was such that “they had not a fault to find in him” (Austen, 117). That is, in the estimation of Sir Walter and Elizabeth. Anne’s plebian acquaintance Mrs. Smith, who is considered beneath the attention of her family, is ironically able to provide Anne with the truth. When Elizabeth and Sir Walter are deceived in this manner, they are indirectly disregarding the veracity of reality. Although Anne suspects all along that there is something not quite right with Mr. Elliot, she is unable to take condemning action against him, because of her nature and her lack of any proof. However, now she has the unique advantage of truth over Sir Walter, Elizabeth, and Lady Russell. In this way, Anne is partially freed of authoritative discourse, due to her vision of the truth, and the contrast of that truth from that which has been authoritative in the past.
Anne’s unelevated position in the Elliot family keeps her in the background to a certain extent. Her respect is solely advocated by Lady Russell. When Elizabeth is quickly replaced by Anne in the affections of Mr. Elliot, Elizabeth loses some of her potency as alpha-female. Elizabeth’s scorn for Capt. Wentworth holds Anne down initially, and “she had the pain of seeing her sister turn away with unalterable coldness” (Austen, 151). Elizabeth is in command of all the selfish pretensions of the Elliot family, and she was already at liberty to use her inner persuasion: “It was a struggle between propriety and vanity; but vanity got the better, and then Elizabeth was happy again. These were her internal persuasions.” However, during her family’s party, Anne meets Wentworth with Elizabeth and Sir Walter standing behind her, and “their being in the background was a support to Anne; she knew nothing of their looks, and felt equal to every thing which she believed right to be done” (Austen, 155). Both Sir Walter and Elizabeth give their acknowledgement to Wentworth, which is significant because Anne now possesses an amount of authority over her future. This condoning of Anne’s relationship with Wentworth marks a shift from authoritative discourse to the innerly persuasive. It commences a situation for Anne which is open ended, not set in stone. The possibilities are of a wider scope than her previously confined predicament.
When Anne Elliot becomes Anne Wentworth, not only does this metamorphosis fulfill the deepest desire of Anne’s heart, it also signals a change in authority. “Elliot” is a memory to Anne, and she is no longer held under the same restrictions that applied when she was under the governance of Sir Walter. Her obligations are at an end, and she is able to direct her rudder as she will, not as her father would have her: As a piece in his baronetage.
Skipping the obvious marriage details that must take place, Austen uses the shift from the authoritative to the innerly persuasive to sail the uncharted territory of the future, which is subject to change. “The semantic structure of an internally persuasive discourse is not finite, it is open; in each of the new contexts that dialogize it, this discourse is able to reveal ever newer ways to mean” (Bakhtin, 346). Anne has migrated entirely to the area of the innerly persuasive, which opens up possibilities. This is reflected in the end of the novel, with Anne sailing the ocean (the ultimate allusion to the unexplored) with Captain Wentworth. This is a distinct difference from Austen’s other novels, which tend to err towards the side of the “happily ever after.”
Anne, initially in the custody of the restrictions of her propriety, familial obligations, and altruistic tendencies, is finally liberated through a series of events that makes her question authority. The persuasions of Sir Walter, Elizabeth, and Lady Russell are exposed as being flawed. Progression of the novel’s plot is made possible only through the dissolving of the authoritative discourse that had held Anne. When this happens, the future is ship, taking her into the undiscovered.
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