Art In Jane Austen's Persuasion

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According to Leo Tolstoy “Art begins when one person, with the object of joining another or others to himself in one and the same feeling, expresses that feeling by certain external indications (Tolstoy, #16).” The novel Persuasion by author Jane Austen is art by Tolstoy’s definition. Austen clearly expresses the feelings she wished to, through her characters, to her receivers such as love, pride and guilt. Austen communicates concepts of morality vicariously through her characters who serve as models for the following moral concepts, such as love, friendship and selflessness. Austen incorporated various degrees of three conditions: individuality, clearness, and sincerity in her works that makes Tolstoy’s premise plausible. To summarize …show more content…

She is truly a model of moral concepts. For example when Anne stays home from the ball to take care of her nephew she emulates the acts of selflessness and compassion. In contrast to both of her two sisters and to the other young female characters in the novel, Anne is level-headed, considerate of others, and humble. She balances duty and passion in a composed and respectful way. Captain Wentworth himself falls in love with Anne all over again due to her caring and practical nature. Anne also takes care of Louisa while she is suffering from her concussion. This proves that Anne is selfless and compassionate towards others because, despite her jealousy, Anne took care of Louisa even though the captain had fallen for Louisa. These are qualities that all young women should have. Anne’s sisters on the other hand are not models for young women. Elizabeth Eliot is greedy and stuck up and Mary Eliot is high strung and hysterical. Austen proves the point that art should be moral by making Anne the main character as opposed to Elizabeth or …show more content…

Anne and Captains Wentworth’s state of soul are both individually transferred from Austen to reader when expressing their love for one another through letter and conversation. For example the reader essentially gets a look into the captain’s soul when he writes his letter to Anne after hearing that she has been proposed to. The feelings of their love for one another are clearly transmitted. Even though a number of years had passed their love for one another still remained and grew stronger with maturity and age. Experience taught Captain Wentworth what he truly wanted in a life partner. Anne in dealing with all of the strife in her family is able to see finally what she had given up over many years and finally gained the confidence to overcome her guilt to ask for what she really wanted in life. Austen was impelled by an inner need to express her feelings. This is obvious in the sincerity of her work. The reader is able to feel exactly what Austen wished for her readers to feel because she was sincere in the way in which she expressed

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