Thursday, March 15, 2012
Practicality in Persuasion
What struck me most about the world of Persuasion is how practicality governed every aspect of an individual's life, no matter how he or she actually feels about a particular situation. In this novel, and I'm assuming during Jane Austen's lifetime, a person must be gifted, useful, or interesting (beautiful) to be given a voice or respect. As my classmates have noted, people seemed to serve as "social tools" and persuasion seems to identify with submission. Sir Elliot is consumed in self-vanity, and his mere demeanor closes out the opinion of his peers- except for his daughter, Elizabeth, who is his equal in kind. I was angered almost at how Anne had to quell her own feelings because of the opinions of society. It goes to show that practicality and social standing is stronger than blood ties, when in chapter 6 it is mentioned that a family sends their troublesome son to the Navy to get him out of the way. When it is revealed he died, the narrative then elaborates on how it was a good thing he was out of the way! The problem with this novel for me is that Austen argues both sides of each opinion so well, I am confused as to whether or not Austen is confirming social norms or critiquing.
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One thing that I noticed in particular was how Sir Elliot and Elizabeth are so concerned with vanity and social status that they become unpractical. For instance, rather than alleviating some of the family debt, Sir Elliot and Elizabeth insist on keeping their four horses and only wish to rent Kellynch to people of rank; Sir Elliot is very skeptical in allowing the Crofts to reside in his home because of his being a weathered sailor, even though the family needs the money from the tenants. I do agree that Anne and Mrs. Russell are very practical and pragmatic, but often have difficulty persuading Sir Elliot because they are less beautiful.
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