While Austen's piece "Persuasion" most obviously elucidates and expands on social commentary about the hierarchy and the importance of status at the time the story is set, political commentary is also embedded within the text. One such instance occurs on pg. 170 when Anne and Sir Walter learn that the Dalrymples have arrived. Austen writes that "No letter of condolence [regarding the death of the Viscount] had been sent to Ireland" (170). As the footnote points out, this intrinsically ironic statement alludes to the perceived subservience and inferiority of the Irish to Scottish and English nobility. "Persuasion" is set in the early 1800's, relatively close in proximity to the 1801 English Act of Union with Ireland that strove to quell Irish rebellions and enforce a sort of dominion over the Irish. Austen's rather subtle incorporation of these politics, especially the satirical nature of the incorporation, is interesting to note.
This is interesting, as the general stereotype of Austen novels is "dainty" and untainted by the weight and sordidness of politics in the late 18th and early 19th century. I think this post is important to our discussion on Tuesday about representation of speech in fiction. Allowing current politics to weave into one's narrative can be dangerous. Austen seems to have done this, as you pointed out. It's a really pertinent question how often Austen lets her true voice come through her characters, or uses them as vehicles.
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