Some of the subtleties of Anne’s character might not be explicitly stated. Other aspects of her character might be implied through comparison with other characters in the novel. The same goes for other characters in the novel as well. In the following description of the Musgroves, what character traits are attributed to being “modern”? What does imply about Anne’s own relationship to the changing times? How does this give us some insight into Anne’s thinking?
“The Musgroves, like their houses, were in a state of alteration, perhaps of improvement. The father and mother were in the old English style, and the young people in the new. Mr. and Mrs. Musgrove were a very good sort of people; friendly and hospitable, not much educated, and not at all elegant. Their children had more modern minds and manners. There was a numerous family; but the only two grown up, excepting Charles, were Henrietta and Louisa, young ladies of nineteen and twenty, who had brought from school at Exeter all the usual stock of accomplishments, and were now, like thousands of other young ladies, living to be fashionable, happy, and merry.” (77-78)
Showing posts with label persuasion question. Show all posts
Showing posts with label persuasion question. Show all posts
Monday, November 19, 2007
Q 19
In the following passage, Austen develops one of the novel’s major concepts. What is it? Who is the narrator commenting on? How does it make a commentary on the character of Anne and Captain Wentworth?
“Anne wondered whether it ever occurred to him now, to question the justness of his own previous opinion as to the universal felicity and advantage of firmness of character; and whether it might not strike him, that, like all other qualities of the mind, it should have its proportions and limits. She thought it could scarcely escape him to feel that a persuadable temper might sometimes be as much in favour of happiness, as a very resolute character” (143-144)
“Anne wondered whether it ever occurred to him now, to question the justness of his own previous opinion as to the universal felicity and advantage of firmness of character; and whether it might not strike him, that, like all other qualities of the mind, it should have its proportions and limits. She thought it could scarcely escape him to feel that a persuadable temper might sometimes be as much in favour of happiness, as a very resolute character” (143-144)
Q 18
18. Most of these questions and most of the lecture material involve us in thinking with Austen. What might it mean to think against Austen?
Q 17
17. How would you sum up the importance of the navy in this novel? What do you make of Anne’s new “profession” (258)?
Q 12
12. There are several occasions of overhearing: Anne overhears Wentworth and Louisa Musgrove; Anne overhears Mrs. Clay and Elizabeth and Sir Walter; Wentworth overhears Anne and Captain Harville. Why might overhearing be important?
Q 11
11. In the introduction to his The Improvement of the Estate (1971; rpt. with new introduction, 1994), Alistair Duckworth says--
Mrs. Smith . . . is important as the final embodiment of a fate that haunts all [Austen's] novels. Here at the last is the entirely unsupported woman, reduced to bare existence without husband, society or friends. Though she appears at the end of Jane Austen's writing life, Mrs. Smith has always existed as a latent possibility in the novelists' thought, an unvoiced threat, the other possible pole of existence. Meeting her old friend after twelve years, Anne Elliot comes face to face with her own possible fate. . . . For this is the danger facing many of Jane Austen's heroines, that present security may become total isolation, that residence 'in the centre of their property' in the enjoyment of 'the general good opinion of their surrounding acquaintance ' may be exchanged for life 'in lodgings' without the money even 'to afford . . . the comfort of a servant.'"
What do you think of this interpretation of Mrs. Smith? Try pulling together all the details about her and then ask yourself how you would interpret her significance to the novel. (The evidence begins with p. 173.)
Mrs. Smith . . . is important as the final embodiment of a fate that haunts all [Austen's] novels. Here at the last is the entirely unsupported woman, reduced to bare existence without husband, society or friends. Though she appears at the end of Jane Austen's writing life, Mrs. Smith has always existed as a latent possibility in the novelists' thought, an unvoiced threat, the other possible pole of existence. Meeting her old friend after twelve years, Anne Elliot comes face to face with her own possible fate. . . . For this is the danger facing many of Jane Austen's heroines, that present security may become total isolation, that residence 'in the centre of their property' in the enjoyment of 'the general good opinion of their surrounding acquaintance ' may be exchanged for life 'in lodgings' without the money even 'to afford . . . the comfort of a servant.'"
What do you think of this interpretation of Mrs. Smith? Try pulling together all the details about her and then ask yourself how you would interpret her significance to the novel. (The evidence begins with p. 173.)
Q 10
10. Notice that the transition to Bath is made by a mental comparison. What do you think that implies about this novel (147)?
Q 8
8. What is “indirect discourse”? What do you imagine “free indirect discourse” to be? Notice throughout the point of view through which Austen constructs her novel.
Q 7
7. What does “independence” seem to mean in this novel? See pp. 50 & 93 and be attentive to other uses.
Q 5
5. What does the word “connexions” mean? Trace its uses. What does Austen imply by these uses of the term? (See, for example, pp. 66, 106, 108, 161 & 169 and collect other examples).
Q 4
4. The Elliot family’s central problem is revealed by a phrase in the book on the Baronetage: “a still-born son, Nov. 5, 1789” (46). But Austen does not make the male heir the central problem of the novel. What is the central problem of the novel, and what are the implications of Austen’s novelistic choice of de-centering the family problem?
Q 2
2. What does Austen imply by having an ancient family replaced by a Naval family at Kellynch Hall? At what point does Austen make the implications explicit? So what? (BTW: Notice that the book centralized at the Musgrove household challenges the one that is dominant at Kellynch Hall.)
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