John Benjamins Publishing Company
Appearance and reality in Jane Austen’s Persuasion
Abstract
The word ‘real’ occurs with significant frequency in Persuasion, indicating a theme which, more than that of ‘persuasion’, connects most of the main areas of the novel, and all the characters. It associates a series of contrasts between reality and appearance – the genuine and the bogus – which are developed throughout. The contrast is seen in different areas of the novel: respectability, friendship, hospitality, health, understanding, and taste, and between the superficiality of the aristocratic Sir Walter Elliot and the genuineness of the naval fraternity. The gradual recognition by Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth that they share the values identified as real and worthy is what finally brings them together, providing the novel’s inner plot.
Abstract
The word ‘real’ occurs with significant frequency in Persuasion, indicating a theme which, more than that of ‘persuasion’, connects most of the main areas of the novel, and all the characters. It associates a series of contrasts between reality and appearance – the genuine and the bogus – which are developed throughout. The contrast is seen in different areas of the novel: respectability, friendship, hospitality, health, understanding, and taste, and between the superficiality of the aristocratic Sir Walter Elliot and the genuineness of the naval fraternity. The gradual recognition by Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth that they share the values identified as real and worthy is what finally brings them together, providing the novel’s inner plot.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Tabula gratulatoria vii
- Contributors ix
- Introduction 1
- “This verse marks that” 17
- Humanized intertexts 31
- Appearance and reality in Jane Austen’s Persuasion 49
- Green flowers and golden eyes 61
- “When I use a word it means just what I choose it to mean” 77
- Place and communicative personae 89
- Tony Harrison and the rhetorics of reality 107
- Truthful (hi)stories in Michael Ondaatje’s Anil’s Ghost 119
- Pragmatic Penelope or timeless tales for the times 135
- Three fallacies in interpreting literature 145
- Index 157
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Tabula gratulatoria vii
- Contributors ix
- Introduction 1
- “This verse marks that” 17
- Humanized intertexts 31
- Appearance and reality in Jane Austen’s Persuasion 49
- Green flowers and golden eyes 61
- “When I use a word it means just what I choose it to mean” 77
- Place and communicative personae 89
- Tony Harrison and the rhetorics of reality 107
- Truthful (hi)stories in Michael Ondaatje’s Anil’s Ghost 119
- Pragmatic Penelope or timeless tales for the times 135
- Three fallacies in interpreting literature 145
- Index 157
