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Persuasion - a different view

Is Persuasion really a completed novel, or a hastily finished off piece which the dying author did not wish to leave to the (often uncertain) fate of ‘unfinished’ works?

All Austen’s novels in my view have a main theme and a sub theme: in Persuasion the main theme is the love story of Anne Elliot and Frederick Wentworth, and the sub theme consists of the relationship between Penelope Clay and William Elliot and their apparent conspiracy. It appears to me that, unlike the main story line, this is not satisfactorily worked through and it was essential for Austen’s intentions that it should be sufficiently intriguing to hold the reader’s imagination.

Austen was writing at a time when the novel was going through a period of change. The Gothic horror story of the second half of the 18th century was out of fashion, and Jane is renowned for having her story lines change markedly from novel to novel – we need only look ahead to Sanditon to see that she was again planning an entirely different kind of story, a very modern one I believe. So what was to be the different story of Persuasion?

The concept which was beginning to catch the interest of many writers was that of the crime novel. I believe that Persuasion was to be a foray into the crime scene, and if we accept that, everything falls neatly into place. Here, Austen would be well ahead of most of her contemporaries.

Is the relationship between Penelope Clay and William Elliot part of a criminal plot? What was the crime to be?

Penelope Clay, widowed, had recently returned to her parent’s house with her two children after an ‘unprosperous’ marriage. Sir Walter would be an excellent catch for her in an age when for most women the need to establish a financially secure future for herself and her children was paramount. But, after the move to Bath when William Elliot appears on the scene, there is a subtle shift in the game.

William Elliot has, for years, been estranged from the Elliot family. He has ignored invitations to visit Kellynch and has apparently been uninterested in the inheritance and the title which, unless Sir Walter remarries and fathers a son, must eventually be his under the terms of the entail. But now it seems he cannot stay away from them and, it seems, is determined to prevent Sir Walter from remarrying.

Sir Walter Elliot, we are told, ‘…prided himself on remaining single for his dear daughters’ sake’. However, being a fit, attractive 54-year-old, he might well change his mind about marrying again and it is this possibility which forms the basis of the subtext of the novel.

The three Elliot sisters were not going to be plunged into poverty with the death of their father, but the prospect of his marrying again was still not one which they viewed cheerfully. A new baby brother might even be a pleasure, but given a stepmother, they would all three suffer a severe loss of status and the two unmarried eldest would be particularly vulnerable.

When Elizabeth imported her companion, Penelope Clay, into the household, she believed that Sir Walter could not possibly be attracted to her since she had ‘…freckles and a projecting tooth and a clumsy wrist’. It did not seem to occur to Elizabeth as it did to her sisters, that Penelope was also possessed of ‘an acute mind and assiduous pleasing manners’.

However, while Elizabeth did not see the danger in Penelope’s presence she agreed entirely with her sisters that Sir Walter should not marry. In this respect they could be said to share William Elliot’s views on their father’s remarriage, but while they were prepared to rely on his common sense, William takes, it seems, a rather more positive stance.

Perhaps this is the point where we could step back and examine the clues which suggest that Persuasion was finished off in a hurry.

Early in 1816 when Austen began Persuasion, she was apparently in good health, but before the year was out, the symptoms of the illness which was to kill her were already well advanced.

Austen, holding her manuscript of tiny pages which was almost, though not quite, finished, was faced with a dilemma. The main story line, the romance between Frederick Wentworth and Anne Elliot needed little further work. Certainly she was unhappy about the ‘catalyst’ scene, a common Austen ploy for getting the hero and heroine together for the denouement, and rewrote one chapter into two. That was simple enough, and superbly done, but did not resolve the dilemma in the sub theme. This may still have been very much at the working stage.

There is a real possibility that Austen did a quick tidy up. William’s changed behaviour is explained as his need to prevent Penelope from marrying Sir Walter. At first glance this seems sensible enough. But then we begin to wonder. There is after all, very little William can do to prevent the marriage if Sir Walter wishes it. Moreover, preventing Sir Walter from marrying Penelope may not necessarily be the complete answer, as Nurse Rooke perceives, recounting the gossip that ‘…it is to be put into the marriage articles when you and Mr. Elliot marry, that your father is not to marry Mrs. Clay … but … it would not prevent his marrying anybody else’.

Jane Austen is an astute as well as an imaginative author. In all her work, she scatters clues for the reader to pick up, and it has been said that Emma has much of the character of a detective novel. My own feeling however is that Persuasion really is a detective novel and moreover one with a darker, more sinister, underlying plot.

The scheme to prevent Penelope Clay, or anyone else, from marrying Sir Walter would be very difficult to carry through, but we are also asked to consider some rather strange events. What, for instance, was William, while supposedly out of town, doing with Penelope in the street outside the Musgrove’s hotel?

Why, when Anne’s engagement to Frederick Wentworth was announced, did Penelope and William disappear at once, (though not together as has often been suggested)? It would seem that Penelope and William knew each other much better than we are at first led to believe, and it is not at all surprising to find them living together at a later date. Was the plan worked out before Penelope went home to Somersetshire to begin her conquest of Sir Walter?

What was the importance of the marriage to Anne which appears to have formed an integral part of William’s plan? And why was it so important that Lady Russell be informed of William’s chicanery without delay. What significance can be attached to Anne’s failure to inform Lady Russell at once?

Since Lady Russell has been particularly keen on Anne’s marriage to William, presumably telling her has to do with Anne’s marriage. We know, as Lady Russell does not, that Anne has no intention of marrying William Elliot and whatever his plan might be, it must founder on that point. However, the storyline apparently requires that Lady Russell be told the truth about William as soon possible. Why? What does Lady Russell know that Anne does not?

Lady Russell was a well known figure in smart social circles. Such circles interacted and it may well be that Lady Russell was aware of rumours that William had a mistress. Suppose that something in Mrs. Smith’s information might lead Lady Russell to the conclusion that this mistress was none other than Penelope Clay But is this enough? While removing Penelope from the picture, it would still not have ensured that Sir Walter did not remarry. It might even have served to give him ideas!

If we wish to believe that getting rid of Penelope Clay is all that Austen intended, it leaves us with the question, why Penelope? If, as appears to be the suggestion, William’s idea was to place Penelope in Kellynch as a bait for Sir Walter, a very dangerous step, then why bother? The only purpose of a bait is surely to catch the fish. Since leading Sir Walter into marrying Penelope was plainly not the desired outcome – what then was to be the conclusion? Just how could William be absolutely certain that Sir Walter would not, indeed could not, remarry? Is Sir Walter’s death the result that must be sought?

So the conspiracy begins to come together. The plot hatched in the drawing rooms of London, the insider Penelope whose task was not to marry Sir Walter but to keep an eye on him for her lover. To record his daily routine, what he ate, when he went out and where, to be ready to help the plot along. The heir who was always on the scene but who was of course, beyond suspicion since the inheritance was his anyway, and – this is particularly horrifying – the besotted wife who, at a pinch, could be shown to do anything for her husband, even if it meant murdering her own father!!

This may well be the reason for the emphasis on the marriage but that the plot started to unravel at this point is hardly surprising. In an age when women were believed to be, and in fact often were, so desperate for the security of marriage, that they would do anything to achieve it, William might well have thought he would get away with it. His first mistake was not to go on with what was almost certainly his original plan – to marry Elizabeth. There is a very real likelihood that Elizabeth’s need ‘to be solicited by someone of baronet blood’ might overrule her compunction. His second mistake was not to realise that the very qualities which were most admired in Anne, her gentle honesty and loyalty, would have turned her away from the plot in horror.

If it were only true! What an exciting story it would have made. Just what was to be Sir Walter’s fate? Would he be saved in time? If so, would he be a more sensible man for his narrow escape? The answer to that, if we rely on Jane’s answers to similar questions is probably a regretful, No!

Joan Gaunt

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30 January 2004

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