One of my favorite passages in Persuasion occurs on pages 242-243 when Anne discusses the inconstancy of men versus the inconstancy of women. Captain Harville's chief argument that history is against women is quickly countered by Anne's assertion that all writers of history are men. This marks an important milestone in character development; long gone is the girl who tried to please everyone and made sure to be civil in every conversation. There are even some sexual undertones to the argument that "the pen has been in their [men's] hands," because the pen is sometimes viewed as a metaphorical penis. It controls the pages of history, staining virgin paper and gives the power of "written fact" to men. More of this idea can be seen in the essay Mad Woman in the Attic. The importance of this episode is two-fold, Anne asserts herself and her opinion as a fully developed, independent character and recognizes that persuasion traditionally falls into the hands of men via literature and history; the women are victim to men's opinions and viewpoints of history and everyday life because what will be written will be assumed to be "fact."
I also noticed Anne's very feminist moment towards the end of the book. This seems to be a common theme that Austen inserts into many of her novels. When I read this it reminded me a lot of the novel "The Female Quixote" by Charlotte Lennox. The main character, Arrabella, is a very strong female character who believes that life works the same as classical romance; that the things that happen aren't fiction, but are true fact. As part of the story, Arrabella (or really Charlotte) explains the importance of female-written fiction as a genre. She has a very similar opinion to Anne's in that women must have their own voice to pass down.
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