Monday, March 19, 2012
parents
Though a rather horrible father, I find Mr. Elliott an interesting character to think about in Persuasion. Mr. Elliott is not the first ridiculous parent in Austen's works. In fact, parents with backwards priorities and ridiculous thought processes make repeated appearances in Austen's works. The frequency with which ridiculous parents appear in Austen's novels lead us to believe that this is not just happenstance. Rather, Austen's portrayal of parents (not all, but most) has a purpose within her larger message as a writer. My belief is that the irrational older generation in Austen's work (i.e. Mr. Elliott's obsessive vanity and Mrs. Bennet and marriage) is oftentimes Austen's way of explicitly pointing out the absurdities and flaws she sees in the values of society. Specifically, in Persuasion, Mr. Elliott's silly petty looks outdated next to the honor and strength of the navy men. With this contrast, Austen reminds us that times are changing; and i'd venture to say that in this case her favor lies in the changing times.
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It's so interesting that you make this point, Katherine. I remember reading Austen's "Emma" in high school and taking note of how neurotically the father character was developed. Mr. Woodhouse fears change of any form, and often reacts with illness, perhaps a commentary on an older generation's-if not all generations'- overall resistance to societal and cultural progress. This example of Austen's work falls nicely into the hypothesis that Austen's "favor lies in the changing times," as was suggested by Katherine. By contrasting such reluctant characters with the seas of drama and change in which she creates them, Austen calls to attention just how strongly the conservatism stands out in a changing world. I do wonder, however, if Austen means to express a generational qualm or if her protagonists' parents are just easy, secondary characters on which she places this type of projection.
ReplyDeleteKatherine, I also agree with you. I think we discussed in class how this only seems to apply (or at least most outwardly applies) to men in Persuasion, and perhaps even other Austen novels. I might be articulating this wrong, but women seem to abide by different rules. I don't mean to call in an entirely new question about gender roles in Persuasion into your post, but I think it's worth mentioning. It seems the most neurotic character in Persuasion is Anne's father--this might represent the gaping disparities between generations, and also that perhaps men shouldn't be the forerunners of society.
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