This was apparently Jane Austen’s last book.
The movie we watched for this one was the 1995 version starring Amanda Root as Anne Elliot and Ciarán Hinds as Captain Frederick Wentworth.
The book establishes right from the start that Anne’s family are awful. Her father is vain and only cares about appearances. Her sisters are shitty to her. The only person in her life who is worth anything is her deceased mother’s friend Lady Russell.
It turns out that Captain Wentworth once proposed to Anne and Lady Russell and her father had her turn him down due to his lack of fortune.
At first I wasn’t sure if he knew that it wasn’t her idea because he was so mad about being rejected, but that gets cleared up near the end of the book – he was mad that she listened to the family members who advised her against the marriage. In her defense she was 19 when he proposed so that seems like a reasonable objection. Anyway he’s now back, he’s rich, and he’s still single.
I have to say, the movie did a really good job of portraying just how vapid and self-involved Anne’s family are. The book speaks about how worn out Anne appears when she is living with them. I have to wonder how much of how depressed she looks is because she is still grieving the relationship that would have gotten her out of that house. Her sister Mary is now married and out of the house, but her visit to the family reveals just how much of a pain in the ass Mary is too – she is constantly complaining. She honestly was comical in the movie, although I felt sorry for her kids.
Wentworth shows up at the house when Anne is visiting Mary. The young unmarried women of the house absolutely lose their shit, they follow this handsome single man around like baby birds. I couldn’t help thinking about all these men who want “traditional” women are probably talking about exactly that clear dynamic – a man with a decent income and the women are throwing themselves at him to get married for no other reason than that he’s single and they need a husband to survive. Eventually both of them get neatly tucked away with other men. Something that is not mentioned in the movie is that Wentworth actually gets to the point where he feels he has to marry the elder daughter because he allowed her to get too close – the family have settled on it becoming a betrothal and it would be rude to refuse her now. Fortunately she ends up falling for somebody else.
There are some comedic moments in the book mostly due to her father, Sir Walter Elliot. A line from Admiral Croft who is renting their house about just how many mirrors he has in his bedroom. Sir Walter complaining about how few pretty women there are in Bath. His very first comment about every single man he is introduced to is about his looks and he originally doesn’t want to rent his house to a sailor because the exposure to the elements makes them all old looking.
The movie runs into a situation similar to Mansfield Park where shifting social mores makes it harder for a modern audience to understand why cousin Elliot would bother to try and form a bond with Sir Walter. In the book it’s just because he’s incredibly acquisitive and it would suit his ambition to be accepted by “society” even though he doesn’t care about rank. In the movie it’s simplified down to money.
I honestly don’t remember if the movie included the sub-plot about Mrs Clay running off with Mr Elliot after Anne turns him down – I suspect it didn’t. There is also a postscript where Wentworth helps Mrs Smith regain some of her lost money and thereby repays her for telling Anne the truth about Elliot’s character. Another horrifying piece of history, Elliot was Mr Smith executor and when he refused to do anything in the role his widow had no access to her inheritance. Some legal structures absolutely belong in the past.
I like this heroine better – I found Emma annoying and Fanny wet. Anne is smart and capable and perceptive and I was invested in her getting a happy ending.