Austen & Life in the Integrity Lane

I have just finished reading Austen's 'Persuasion' for the umpteenth time. It would have to be one of my favourite Austen novels.


The fairy-tale aspects of this beautifully written novel, including three sisters, the gentlest and most level-headed being Anne, an idiotic, vain Father, and the God Mother Lady Russell,who drives away the hero and later favors an impostor as a perfect match for Anne for it suits her to have Anne settled as her pet neighbour. All of this I find, contribute to its appeal. But the book also contains a great deal of subtle structure which may help explain why plot and narrative produce such a satisfying whole....and should help a film adaptation live up to the book's potential. In fact, it was the dissatisfaction with existing film versions that sent me back to the novel to try to find out what it is in the plot that somehow fails to be properly interpreted on the screen.


The answer seems to lie in Austen's complex way in which she writes. No character is just written in for the sake of it, they all serve a purpose and yet most are overlooked in all the screen adaptations. There are minor characters in this novel that we can learn by and help us understand Anne and Frederick's sway in affection that films tend to lose. The parallels between Anne’s friendship with Mrs. Smith and Frederick's friendship with Harville fall into several broad categories. First, when Anne and Frederick form these friendships, both of them are, for various reason, vulnerable. Second, when they are reunited with their friends, after a prolonged break, the roles are reversed. It is now the friends who are vulnerable, each having experienced serious hardship. Third, each friend not only displays remarkable resiliency in his or her present difficult situation but also plays a significant role in the reconciliation between Anne and Frederick. The movie adaptations merely have them there to fill in space only, throwing Harville a few lines here and there but gives no substance or history in his sway with his friend... sometimes when you're adapting a brilliantly written novel, it is essential to look for the space in between the spaces, if it is spaces you are needing to fill. What about Benwick's feelings for Anne and how Frederick suddenly felt that there may be a chance that Benwick and Anne could end up together... that subtle feeling of jealousy he never knew was there? Oh people please, this book is just brilliant in it's interpretation of human nature.. it has stupid people, smart people, victims of circumstance, ignorant people and people dancing to the beat of their own drum.


Don't get me started on Anne's lack of dialogue on the screen... like she's some mute girl with no independent thoughts... enough said there for now...Is there nobody out there, in our modern world, that can successfully arrange a proper adaptation of this book that was written a long time ago? They leave so much out that it is impossible to feel the complexity that is Austen. Is it any wonder that those of the male species find Austen a little too girly? They concentrate on the hurt ego's in the beginning of the movie, totally miss the turning point where Anne and Frederick begin to love each other again, and go straight for the uniting. At least they all remember to put the letter in... which in my opinion is one of the BEST declaration of love, ever written in the history of literature.
'You pierce my soul, I am half agony, half hope" Ugh, swoon factor of 100, I always look forward to chapter 23....The one thing that I've always admired in Austen's writing is the chances she gives her hero's to say their piece. Never underestimate the power of a letter, even in today's time. If a woman can honestly say that a love letter from a love interest doesn't get her swooning, even for a bit, she has ice water in her veins and not worth the stamp to post it.




Look, I can go on about this forever, and I probably would, if I didn't have dinner to cook, a painting to work on, and basically a life. What I should have done was become a script writer... then this blog post would be whistling a different tune, not to mention I'd be able to make sense when I write.


If you haven't as yet read Persuasion by Jane Austen, I strongly urge you to read it. It is worth the read.


Happy Reading and thanks for stopping by