Résumé
Résumé de Persuasion
À qui s’adresse-t-il ?
For readers who love quiet, close-up stories about feeling, manners and second chances, and anyone curious about Austen who enjoys a gentle love story.
De quoi parle ce livre ?
Persuasion is the last novel Jane Austen finished. She wrote it in 1815 and 1816, in the last years of her life, and it was published in December 1817, a few months after she died. It is a story about a woman who gave up the man she loved when she was young, and who meets him again when she is twenty-seven and he has come back from the wars at sea a rich and admired man.
The woman is Anne Elliot, the middle daughter of a vain baronet. The man is Frederick Wentworth, a naval officer. The book is set in the south and west of England just after the Napoleonic wars, in country houses, a seaside town and the fashionable city of Bath. It is smaller in scale than some of Austen's other novels, and quieter, with an autumn feeling about it. Its subject is regret, and what a person does with a second chance.
In the next quarter of an hour you will meet the Elliots and their friends, follow Anne from Kellynch Hall to Uppercross, to Lyme and to Bath, and see why this gentle story still holds its readers. We begin where the novel begins, with a father who loves a mirror more than his own accounts.
Dans ce résumé
- 1A vain father spends beyond his meansFree
- 2Anne still carries a loss from long ago
- 3Wentworth returns and Anne must meet him
- 4Anne is useful but nearly invisible
- 5At Lyme a sudden accident tests everyone
- 6Bath brings new faces and an old family
- 7The book asks when to trust advice
- 8Constancy, class and the strength of Anne
- 9A story told close to Anne's mind
Point clé 1 sur 9
A vain father spends beyond his means
The novel opens with Sir Walter Elliot of Kellynch Hall in Somersetshire. He is a baronet, and he has read one book all his life, the Baronetage, where his own name and his family tree stand in print. He is proud of his rank and even prouder of his good looks. He cannot pass a mirror without a glance, and he judges other people by their faces and their titles.
Sir Walter is a widower with three daughters. Elizabeth, the eldest, is much like him in pride and takes her place as mistress of the house. Mary, the youngest, has married Charles Musgrove, the son of a landowning family nearby, and she spends her days feeling unwell and neglected. Anne, the middle daughter, is quiet, clever and kind, and nobody in her own family pays her much attention. Her father says her bloom has faded.
The trouble is money. Sir Walter has lived above his income for years, and his debts are now so large that he must change his way of life. His lawyer, Mr Shepherd, and his friend Lady Russell advise him to leave Kellynch for a time, let the house, and live more cheaply. Sir Walter hates the idea, but he hates the thought of public shame more, and he agrees to go to Bath.
Then comes a small irony that sets the whole story moving. Sir Walter dislikes the navy because it makes men weather-beaten and raises low-born men to high rank. Yet the best tenant for his house is an admiral. Admiral Croft and his cheerful wife are ready to rent Kellynch Hall, and Sir Walter swallows his objections to the sea.
From this first part the reader learns how Austen works. She does not need a crisis to show character. A vain man arranging a lease tells us a great deal about him, and about the quiet daughter who must pack up her home while the others complain.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Anne Elliot
- The sensible middle daughter of Sir Walter, Anne still loves the naval officer she refused eight years earlier.
- Captain Frederick Wentworth
- Anne's former fiancé is a successful naval officer who remains hurt by her rejection.
- Sir Walter Elliot
- Anne's vain father is a baronet whose extravagant spending forces his family to leave Kellynch Hall.
- Elizabeth Elliot
- Anne's elder sister shares their father's social pride and shows little warmth toward Anne.
- Lady Russell
- A widowed family friend, she regards Anne as a daughter and advised her against marrying Wentworth.
- Mary Musgrove
- Anne's married younger sister lives at Uppercross and frequently complains about her health and treatment.
- Mr Elliot
- Sir Walter's cousin and heir renews contact with the family in Bath and takes an interest in Anne.
- Admiral and Mrs Croft
- This cheerful married couple rents Kellynch Hall, and Mrs Croft is Captain Wentworth's sister.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 84,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 5 h 35 min
- Listening time9 h 20 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary; paperback, hardcover and large print at cost
- LanguagesEnglish and 14 other languages
Questions about Persuasion
What is Persuasion by Jane Austen about?
It tells of Anne Elliot, who was persuaded at nineteen to break her engagement to a naval officer, Frederick Wentworth. Eight years later he returns, wealthy and cool toward her, and the story follows how they meet again.
What does the title Persuasion mean?
It refers to the influence others have over our choices. Anne was persuaded by Lady Russell to give up Wentworth, and the novel asks when advice should be followed and when a person must rely on her own judgment.
When was Persuasion written and published?
Austen wrote it in 1815 and 1816 and it was published in December 1817, after her death in July of that year. It is the last novel she completed.
Is Persuasion different from Austen's other novels?
Yes. Its heroine is older, its tone is quieter and more autumnal, and it gives the navy and a second-chance romance a central place. Many readers find it her most mature and emotional book.
Is Persuasion hard to read?
The story is simple and clear. Readers new to Austen often find it easy to follow.