Persuasions #15, 1993 Pages 42-43
Persuasive Pairs TINA HALL Tucson, AZ One thing that Jane Austen does particularly well in Persuasion
is achieve a balance of character that mirrors the attractive symmetry of plot
and imagery in the novel. Austen does this
through the matches that she makes, the couples that she delineates so
amusingly. In Persuasion, Austen
shows us how a couple can both support each other and compensate for each
other’s weaknesses. The main couple in
the novel is a clear example of this beneficial personality disparity within a
marriage. Anne Elliot is obviously a
far better person than Captain Wentworth, yet she loves him and he becomes a
sympathetic partner and companion for her.
Stuart Tave writes of Anne, “This little woman, delicate, elegant,
sweet, has the kind of force the genuinely heroic Captain Wentworth has not”
(282). Austen does not complacently let
the good characters love the good, the weak characters the weak. Rather, she convinces the reader that
couples with dissimilar personalities do and should exist. What is particularly refreshing about Persuasion
is the high incidence of strong woman/weak man matches that are portrayed as
compatible and successful. Anne and
Wentworth have already been mentioned.
Anne is seemingly a paragon; whatever she may lack in liveliness of
personality is readily made up for by Wentworth. In contrast, Anne balances out the tendency to shallowness that
Wentworth displays upon his return to Kellynch. We know that if Anne loves him, he must be a basically good
man. Anne’s own parents are an
exaggerated form of this. While the
prudent mother was alive the wastrel father was compelled to live within his
means. Austen writes that Sir Walter
owed his “real respectability” to his Lady Elliot (4). Perhaps the most amusing of the mismatched
couples is the Crofts. Mrs. Croft is a
strong, decisive woman who is both practical and courageous. It is ironically Admiral Croft, who by
definition should be the stalwart partner, who is innocently haphazard. On shore, at least, the typical roles of
husband and wife seem reversed. This is
apparent when Austen describes Anne riding in their carriage, watching Mrs.
Croft judiciously tugging on the reins to avoid the dangers that the Admiral
seems oblivious of. Anne displays “some
amusement at their style of driving, which she imagined no bad representation
of the general guidance of their affairs” (92). All of these strong women would seem to
indicate a subversively matriarchal society.
However, I hesitate to impose what seems to be a rather thin and
limiting interpretation upon Austen’s rich descriptions of characters and
societies. It is perhaps more accurate
to argue that Austen, while acknowledging and paying due homage to the powerful
roles men play, gently illuminates the equally important roles of the
women. Her women are highly visible and
will not be relegated to the back parlor room while men talk of important
matters. “It is not enlightening,” Tave
writes, “to note that she gives us no scenes in which men converse without the
presence of a woman, as though one had thereby pointed out a limitation. If that fact points to anything it is to one
of the defining strengths” (280).
Austen proves to be supremely sympathetic to and aware of women, be they
strong or foolish. Another of the comic
pairs in the novel is Lady Russell and Sir Walter. Although not linked by matrimony or even by love, they are
inevitably coupled in the reader’s mind simply because of their similarity in
situation and their proximity. Lady
Russell is self-reliant, sensible, and swift in judgment, however misguided
that judgment may be. In contrast, Sir
Walter lacks good judgment to begin with and is passive, vain, and
superficial. In effect, Lady Russell is
the “strong man” and Sir Walter is the “weak woman.” Austen hasn’t so much cunningly switched the roles as she has
displayed the artificiality of defining roles at all and the reality of human
quirks and strengths, whether those humans be male or female. In Persuasion, Anne represents a fragile
harmony between the masculine and feminine.
She is in some respects the perfect woman. She is submissive, respectful, loyal, and industrious. In other ways she is the perfect man. Her capacity for action and quick decisions
is proven by the incident in Lyme. She
is also the most discerning of all the characters and holds fast to her
principles. Her physical delicacy
juxtaposed to her strength of mind subtly illustrates this balanced dichotomy
of male and female. Anne seems to be
the perfect being; however, it is the frailty of falling in love with Wentworth
that makes her delightfully and solidly human.
Tave describes Anne as “heroic” because she makes male/female
distinctions irrelevant in the face of her overall human virtue. Although Tave writes of Anne’s heroism, it
is once again Jane Austen who is truly heroic in creating an unforgettable
character that men and women alike can admire and fall in love with. WORKS CITED Austen, Jane.
Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. Ed. R. W. Chapman. 3rd ed. London: Oxford UP, 1954 reprint. Tave, Stuart. Some Words of Jane Austen. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1973. |