Saturday, February 28, 2015

Persuasion Read-Along: Chapter 24


We finished!!! On the 28th of February!!!!!

And first, thank you all so much for enthusiastically joining in here and making it all such a thoroughly splendid success!! :) (As a note, don’t worry if you’re still finishing up… There’s no rush. Feel free to read and comment whenever you can! ;))

~ ~ ~

In this chapter Austen wraps everything up so wonderfully. Realistically (without happy tidiness in every direction), but with resolution and a good amount of cheerful spirit spread into the corners—and with deep happiness for the people we love most. 

(Oh, my…. I do love Persuasion so much! But I mentioned something about that in my last post, didn’t I? ;))

Next week there will be a celebratory giveaway and I’m also hoping to do a post on Wentworth and Anne—so keep visiting! 


Favorite lines/quotes:

“Sir Walter, indeed, though he had no affection for Anne, and no vanity flattered, to make him really happy on the occasion, was very far from thinking it a bad match for her. On the contrary, when he saw more of Captain Wentworth, saw him repeatedly by daylight, and eyed him well, he was very much struck by his personal claims, and felt that his superiority of appearance might be not unfairly balanced against her superiority of rank; and all this, assisted by his well-sounding name, enabled Sir Walter at last to prepare his pen, with a very good grace, for the insertion of the marriage in the volume of honour.” pg. 244

“There is a quickness of perception in some, a nicety in the discernment of character, a natural penetration, in short, which no experience in others can equal, and Lady Russell had been less gifted in this part of understanding than her young friend. But she was a very good woman, and if her second object was to be sensible and well-judging, her first was to see Anne happy. She loved Anne better than she loved her own abilities; and when the awkwardness of the beginning was over, found little hardship in attaching herself as a mother to the man who was securing the happiness of her other child.


“Of all the family, Mary was probably the one most immediately gratified by the circumstance. It was creditable to have a sister married, and she might flatter herself with having been greatly instrumental to the connexion, by keeping Anne with her in the autumn…” pg. 245

“Anne, satisfied at a very early period of Lady Russell's meaning to love Captain Wentworth as she ought, had no other alloy to the happiness of her prospects than what arose from the consciousness of having no relations to bestow on him which a man of sense could value. There she felt her own inferiority very keenly. The disproportion in their fortune was nothing; it did not give her a moment's regret; but to have no family to receive and estimate him properly, nothing of respectability, of harmony, of good will to offer in return for all the worth and all the prompt welcome which met her in his brothers and sisters, was a source of as lively pain as her mind could well be sensible of under circumstances of otherwise strong felicity.” pg. 247


“Captain Wentworth, by putting her (Mrs. Smith) in the way of recovering her husband's property in the West Indies, by writing for her, acting for her, and seeing her through all the petty difficulties of the case with the activity and exertion of a fearless man and a determined friend, fully requited the services which she had rendered, or ever meant to render, to his wife.” pg. 247

“She (Mrs. Smith) might have been absolutely rich and perfectly healthy, and yet be happy. Her spring of felicity was in the glow of her spirits, as her friend Anne's was in the warmth of her heart. Anne was tenderness itself, and she had the full worth of it in Captain Wentworth's affection.” – pg. 248

Possible discussion question/s:

~ What do you think of the final revelation of Mr. Elliot and Mrs. Clay’s characters?

~ Do you think everyone and everything is well resolved?

~ Have you enjoyed Persuasion?


15 comments:

  1. Yes Heidi, I have indeed enjoyed Persuasion! I must say it isn't my favourite Jane Austen book, but I do really like it - especially HIS LETTER. Haha. :-)

    Thank you SO much, dear, for organising this! It's been so fun, and you're an amazing host. :-)

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    1. Naomi,
      Thank you, dear! :) You're so welcome and I'm so very glad to have had you along. ;)

      Yes, I go back and forth. (Given, of course, that I love everything Austen wrote), Persuasion is very nearly my favorite, but I LOVE P&P, too -- so generally I just consider it a tie. ;)

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  2. I did enjoy it. I enjoyed it so much, I kind of read ahead. Way ahead! I finished awhile ago. But I am so glad I joined in b/c I gained a new respect and love for Persuasion. This reread for me was really like a first time read, and I believe I will have to reread it again to look even deeper.

    Thank you for hosting, and I look forward to other read-alongs in the future.

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    1. Ruth,
      Oh good, I'm so glad!! Thanks so much for joining in and I'd love to have you along any time we do another one. :)

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  3. Well, clearly Mr. Elliot and Mrs. Clay are scurrilous rogues. Mrs. Clay, seeing that marrying Sir Walter is going no where, becomes Mr. Elliot's mistress! Wow. Though she does seem to have hopes that he will marry her. I don't think she's got great odds on that, but who knows.

    Oh, I did want to mention too that there was an answer to our question earlier about what would happen to Anne and Elizabeth when Sir Walter died if they didn't marry. It looks here like Anne gets 10,000 pounds as her inheritance, possibly from her mother, and Sir Walter can choose to settle some of it on her now as a dowry instead of her waiting for him to die. At least, that's what it looks like to me -- anyone else have any thoughts on it?

    Thanks for hosting this, Heidi! It's been such fun :-)

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    1. Hamlette,
      I think the odds are heavily against Mrs. Clay's success, too, but yes, I suppose one never knows.... Wilder things have happened.

      And that makes a lot of sense about the 10,000 pounds. It must have been tied up somewhere so it was safe? But then it says Sir Walter could only give her a small portion of "what was to be her's hereafter." I don't exactly know how all those settlements worked when estates were entailed. Maybe Mr. Elliot was supposed to come up with the money in that regard when he eventually inherited? Clearing accounts so to speak? I don't know, so it's a bit of a surmise.

      And you're welcome! I'm so glad to have had you along. ;)

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    2. Okay, I'm pulling this from some Sherlock Holmes stories, which obviously took place a lot later than this, but I remember two of them ("The Speckled Band" and "A Case of Identity") where young women had inherited a substantial sum of money from their mothers. They were supposed to get some of it annually, and while they lived at home, their fathers had the use of it. Once they married, it would be for them and their husbands. If they never married and their fathers died, presumably it would support them. If they died unmarried, then it went to their fathers.

      So one possibility is that Lady Elliot had a sizable inheritance of her own, which she chose to pass along to her daughters rather than giving it to spendthrift Sir Walter. Sir Walter could, however, instruct the bank to give them part of it as their dowry upon their marriage, and the rest would be kept for later, or doled out beginning then.

      The other possibility is that part of the Elliot estate was somehow set aside for each of the daughters to receive upon their father's death, and Sir Walter could choose to liquidate something and give them part of their inheritance when they married rather than them having to wait for him to die. When he did die, the girls would each get a set amount (minus their dowry if he did not withhold that the way he'd planned to do when Anne originally was to marry Wentworth), and everything else would go to Mr. Elliot.

      Who knows. Austen didn't specify, and it doesn't really matter, but it looks like either way, Elizabeth and Anne would have been provided for if they were unmarried when Sir Walter died.

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    3. Hamlette,
      How did I miss replying here?? (I remember thinking through it all..... :P) But anyhow, that definitely all makes a lot of sense.

      (Btw, you'll be happy to know I can get back into my account! :) Googling for answers does a lot ;) -- I had to clear all the cookies and remembered passwords out of the browser.)

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    4. (YAY! Glad you got back in. I'll try to remember to try that next time it glitches up on me.)

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  4. I LOVED Persuasion. I think it ties with Mansfield Park as my favorite Austen novel. And I must thank you. This was my first read-along and I love the way it worked. Reading WITH other lovers of literature and having people to discuss the story and development with chapter by chapter made it ever so much more fun. Thanks for hosting! I will be posting a review of Persuasion and Read-Alongs later today.

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    1. Susanna,
      I'm so very glad!! And you love Mansfield Park that much, too? How splendid! P&P and Persuasion tie for first place with me so I always consider MP as my second very favorite of the novels. ;)

      I'm so pleased you enjoyed the read-along so much and you're welcome! If you can, make sure to leave a link over to your review on my most recent post here and I'll look forward to reading it soon!

      (Btw, I had trouble trying to leave a comment, but I most thoroughly enjoyed your entire recent LHBP post! :) I was just about squealing when your brought up Sofya/Sonia and C&P! It might sound extremely odd, but I LOVE that story.... it's shaped me so much. And one of my sisters keeps wanting me to order that b/w Copperfield, so it was a great reminder! ;))

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    2. Wow! We should do a Crime and Punishment read along sometime! I have been really wanting to read it again. Yes, her story really inspired me too. I am sorry that you had trouble commenting on my blog. But thanks again for hosting this event. I thoroughly enjoyed every bit. I will leave a link to my review.

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    3. Susanna,
      A C&P read-along would be amazing! (I'd have to gird myself up for it), but it would definitely be amazing. ;) And I'm so glad you enjoyed Persuasion! It was such a happy pleasure to have you along!

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  5. Oh dear Heidi! This is indeed such a lovely idea! I'm just finishing up with 'My Antonia' and then I will be reading Persausion! As you saw, I watched the BBC miniseries and loved it and now I look forward to reading the book! :)
    I'm so glad you stopped by to tell me about your lovely read along blog - thank you!
    Hugsd to you!

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    1. Kelly-Anne,
      You're most welcome! I'm so glad you're planning to read Persuasion and looking forward to discussing it as you like/want to! :)

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Would love to have your thoughts! Just please keep it respectful and civil. Also, if someone else has left a comment you’d like to reply to -- feel free!