Emily Miller
HPR125
Professor Foster
Persuasion Rewrite
A Difference in Values
Through analyzing main characters in Jane Austen’s Novel Persuasion , it is made evident that aesthetic judgment was a clear indicator of the characters value, especially through the theme of marriage . Aesthetic judgment will be discussed in the sense of how one interprets another character, either based on looks and wealth or on their values and intentions .
Lady
Russell’s convincing of Anne to marry someone other than Captain Wentworth makes it clear that her surface aesthetic judgment of the character determined her consideration of him as a partner .
However, Anne’s deeper aesthetic judgment is later revealed when her love for Captain
Wentworth remains after eight years .
Similarly, Captain Wentworth’s deeper form of aesthetic judgment is also revealed through his love of Anne enduring even after a lack of communication between the two, further proof that marriage was an indication of aesthetic judgment .
Lady Russell proved true to the average character of the time period because of her focus on surface aesthetic value: she based her interpretations of people off of societal rank and social wealth rather than their deeper character . She was introduced to be of “steady age and character, and extremely well provided for”, which suggested that this type of aesthetic judgment, the type
Lady Russell displayed, was common for the time (Austen 6). Her reasons for speaking of and promoting marriage were to improve one’s finances and reputation rather than for happiness and

love .
When Anne learned that Mr .
Elliot mistreated his first wife and had poor intentions for their own potential marriage, it was noted in the annotations that “This shows the potentially tragic turn the story could have taken, due to Lady Russell’s excessive regard for social rank .
”
(Persuasion 401) .
Although this was in the notes of the novel, and therefore an interpretation of the novel as opposed to being in the novel itself, it is still suggesting the aesthetic value of character that Lady Russell possessed based on status and wealth as opposed to actual character worth .
She suggested that Anne should marry Mr. Elliot because of his agreeable nature: “I am no match-maker, as you well know…I only mean that if Mr .
Elliot should some time hence pay his addresses to you, and if you should be disposed to accept him, I think there would be every possibility of you being happy together” (Persuasion 302) .
Her saying this is in part due to her desire for Anne to return to Kellynch and keep her family intact, and although that proves Lady
Russell’s concern for family, it accentuates more on her desire for a structure rather than happiness. Lady Russell’s commenting this proves that she places a more focused emphasis on social judgment than on Anne’s personal taste and that her focus of aesthetic judgment, especially when it comes to marriage, is surface-based .
Throughout Persuasion , Anne displayed a maturing form of aesthetic value of character than expected at the time period the novel was based on: she focused on values such as prolonged love and intended character to determine who she wanted to marry rather than wealth and status in society .
Anne’s interpretation of people was not determined by charm or money or rank but rather by personality and judgments .
Anne was quoted to feel that “The charm of
Kellynch and “Lady Elliot” all faded away .
She could never accept him .
And it was not only that

her feelings were still adverse to any man save one; her judgment, on a serious consideration of the possibilities of such a case, was “against Mr .
Elliot” (Persuasion 304) .
Because the two had differing opinions of what constituted good company at the time, it follows that they had differing opinions of what constitutes a good marriage. Through this, Anne admits that Mr .
Elliot was “agreeable, but would not suit” her (Persuasion 302) .
Essentially this is different than common aesthetic values because “agreeable” would have been acceptable to anyone else at the time .
This idea was deeper than expected in that era: admitting that her feelings for a specific man, the “any man save one”, were unchanged, even in the event of his eight years of absence, suggests that her specific interpretation of aesthetic value was based more on how someone made her feel than how they appeared in society .
After learning that Mr .
Elliot did not have good intentions for their suggested marriage together, and that he mistreated his previous wife, she commented “Anne could just acknowledge within herself such a possibility of having been induced to marry him, as made her shudder at the misery which must have followed” (Persuasion
400) .
This further proves that Anne based her love off her individual interpretation of character and not off how society viewed them: she realized that Lady Russell could have persuaded her to marry him and knows that it could have been “miserable” with him .
Essentially, this quote proves that she realized that although other people promised happiness with him, and although she found him pleasant to be around as suggested through their many interactions throughout the book, she knew, through the revealing of his true character, that she would not be happy with
Mr .
Elliot (Austen 354, 304). In a different sense, Anne’s true judgments of aesthetic value are revealed through something other than her interpretations of marriage but through her interpretations of gender: when speaking of the reasons men and women must acquire different

jobs, Anne says “Your feelings may be the strongest…but the same spirit of analogy will authorize me to assert that ours are the most tender .
Man is more robust than woman but he is not longer lived: which exactly explains my view of the attachments” (Persuasion 446) .
Essentially Anne was arguing that women are better suited for domestic jobs because of their heightened emotions, suggesting an insight into her character- by speaking of women needing jobs she makes it obvious that she believes women are good for more than just appearance and marriage, but knew her place in society .
Captain Fredrick Wentworth proved to exercise a similar form of aesthetic judgment to
Anne’s: his love for Anne remained for eight years, even though his financial status and rank in society far surpassed what it was when he first made an offer of marriage to her when she was higher in rank: she still outranks him after his more recent endeavors but he has gained some status .
Through the letter in which he admits his love for Anne, he stated “I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own then when you broke it eight and a half years ago”
(Persuasion 452) .
This proved that his love was based off character, and although he does recognize that she denied him once before, he offers his heart to her unchanged from the devotion he felt almost a decade ago .
This also suggests that his aesthetic value of character was not based off looks, seeing as that amount of time would age anyone, and Anne’s depressed state would not leave her looking as youthful as she once was, but he still remains devoted to her .
It was “evident that the gentleman, (completely a gentleman) admired her exceedingly .
Captain
Wentworth looked round at her instantly in a way which shewed his noticing of it” (Persuasion
200) .
Before this comment it was suggested that Anne was regaining her good looks, but
Captain Wentworth’s noticing was more of the noticing of her regaining who she used to be, not

becoming pretty, but becoming Anne.
It was apparent that she had grown sad and dismal in his absence, and soon, he was beginning to see “something like Anne Elliot again” .
He admitted that his love for her had only grown through their separation from each other, although during that time he had had other options, such as his brief affair with Louisa (Persuasion 462) .
He had more status and money than he had eight years ago, and therefore more options of who to marry, but he still chose her, proving that his love was not based off financial gains but off of a deeper value of aesthetic judgment .
Through the analysis of main characters in Jane Austen’s Persuasion, it is made obvious that aesthetic value at the time was heavily focused on the theme of social advancement through marriage .
Lady Russell proved to have a more contemporary form of aesthetic value, a surface interpretation of character based heavily on the fact that marriage can be used as a tool to improve societal rank and financial wealth .
Meanwhile, Anne and Captain Wentworth shared a deeper sense of aesthetic judgment, retaining love for each other even through an eight year absence and a change in appearance and social status .
Anne had the option to marry Mr .
Elliot, which would provide her with her house back and a life of simplicity, but denied it when she realized that his character was subpar, basing her aesthetic values off of character as opposed to looks and wealth .
Wentworth went eight years with his feelings for Anne being unchanged, even as his social rank increased and he was presented with other options for marriage, proving his aesthetic judgments were not based off of wealth and status .
The interpretations of aesthetic judgment in Austen’s
Persuasion, especially when focused on the theme of marriage, revealed the characters values and morals .