Poudelivre

Classics are classics for a reason and have thus been read and loved for a very long time. After reading Jane Austen’s Persuasion it’s easy to see why it has captured the heart of so many readers throughout the years. With its gentle language and sweet romance it’s hard not to fall in love with this story.

It’s been eight years since Anne Elliot broke it off with Captain Wentworth after being pressured by her family not to marry him since he wasn’t good enough for her. Now Captain Wentworth has made a name for himself in the navy and has returned again to Anne’s circles, but he is cold and distant and she realizes that he no longer feels anything for her but rather is in the task of seeking a wife among her acquaintances. But eight years was not enough to quench the feelings Anne had for Captain Wentworth and she can’t help but hope that deep down he still loves her, too.

At first I found this novel to be rather boring. It moves slowly and involves a lot of characters and detailed descriptions about characters that I feel don’t have too much to do with Anne and Captain Wentworth. It was almost tedious in the beginning and I felt sleepy and not in the mood every time I picked the book up. Despite that I held on, knowing that a lot of classics can be slow and a bit boring in the beginning, and I’m so very glad I kept going.

This is a love story so different from how love is perceived today, which might be why so many readers adore this novel (and so many like it) in this day and age. It is slow and gentle and sweet but so very romantic despite that. It goes against how we are used to not only date and be in a relationship, but even to read about it in books set in a more modern setting. I loved Persuasion because it was so sweet and so very different from what I’m used to. The love felt real and authentic in a way I haven't really seen in any modern book I've read.

Despite how old Persuasion is I felt like it was a very fresh story. It highlighted many interesting questions and showed off a female main character who was very strong even though she lived in a time when women didn’t have much power. Captain Wentworth was a very lovely character as well, both strong and gentle in his way, and the suspense between him and Anne throughout the entire story was subtle yet very exciting.

I found the relationship between Anne and her close friend Lady Russell to be quite irritating, but I did read this book with modern views. Lady Russell is the one to tell Anne she should break it off with Captain Wentworth eight years before the story starts and it annoys me that Anne actually listened and did so, even though she explains why later on in the novel. Lady Russell was against Captain Wentworth because she didn’t believe him to be enough of a hardworking man to deserve Anne but was afriad he would destroy her and at the same time Lady Russell took another important character under her wings and professed how much she adored him and how wonderful he was when he turned out to be the villain of the story and this is something I liked. It shows that it doesn’t matter what you look like, where you come from or how you act – awful people can be found disguised even in the nicest clothes and manners and I enjoyed Lady Russell having to eat up all the bad things she said about Captain Wentworth.

I haven’t read too many classics in my life but have nonetheless found a few that I like but with Persuasion it’s different. I’m actually surprised by how much I came to love this story and I know without a doubt that this is a classic that I will return to again and again in the future. If you haven’t read it yourself already it’s definitely one I recommend!