Episode 4Her Ex's Verdict: "I Wouldn't Know Her"Persuasion (Jane Austen)
Her nephew's injury gives Anne an excuse to stay home and avoid one evening. The next morning, she suddenly comes face to face with the man she refused to marry eight years ago. All they share is a bow and a few minutes in the same room. Then her sister mentions, almost in passing, that he said Anne was "so changed he wouldn't have known her," and the words cut deep.
Captain Frederick Wentworth, a naval officer who has made his fortune at sea, comes to stay at Kellynch Hall. His sister Mrs Croft and her husband are renting the house from Anne's father. Mr Musgrove, the friendly squire of nearby Uppercross, visits him and invites him to dinner. Anne Elliot is staying at Uppercross Cottage with her younger sister Mary, so that dinner would mean seeing Wentworth for the first time in eight years. Just before it, Mary's little boy Charles has a bad fall. His collarbone is dislocated and his back is hurt.
Persuasion Chapters 7–8 Summary: Anne Meets Captain Wentworth Again
In short: In Chapters 7–8 of Jane Austen's Persuasion (1817), Anne Elliot meets Captain Frederick Wentworth again eight years after she broke off their engagement. They only exchange a bow, but she then hears that he called her so changed he would not have known her. From then on he treats her politely but coldly, like a stranger.
The Original Story: What Happens in Chapters 7–8
Captain Frederick Wentworth, a naval officer who has made his fortune at sea, comes to stay at Kellynch Hall. His sister Mrs Croft and her husband are renting the house from Anne's father. Mr Musgrove, the friendly squire of nearby Uppercross, visits him and invites him to dinner. Anne Elliot is staying at Uppercross Cottage with her younger sister Mary, so that dinner would mean seeing Wentworth for the first time in eight years.
Just before it, Mary's little boy Charles has a bad fall. His collarbone is dislocated and his back is hurt. Anne stays calm and takes charge, and the apothecary, Mr Robinson, is sent for. When the child is settled, his father decides to go to the dinner anyway. Mary does not want to be the only one left behind, so she goes too. Anne offers to stay and nurse the boy. Privately, she is grateful for the excuse.
The next morning the meeting comes anyway. Wentworth stops at the cottage with the Musgrove sisters on his way out shooting with Charles. Anne's eyes half meet his, there is a bow and a curtsey, he talks briefly with Mary, and within minutes the room is empty. Anne tells herself it is over. She tries to believe that eight years must have changed everything, and then realizes that, for feelings that never went away, eight years count for almost nothing. Then Mary, with no idea how much it will hurt, passes on what Wentworth said when one of the sisters asked about Anne: she was so altered he would not have known her. The words hurt Anne badly, but they also calm her a little. At least now she knows where she stands.
Chapter 8 follows the weeks after. Anne and Wentworth are often at the same gatherings, but they act like strangers, or even more distant than strangers. At a dinner, the Musgrove girls look up his ships in the Navy List and beg for his stories, from his first ship, the Asp, to his later command, the Laconia. When Mrs Musgrove grieves over her dead son Richard, who once served under him, Wentworth sits beside her and listens kindly. Later Anne plays the piano for the dancing. She overhears him ask whether Miss Elliot ever dances, and someone answers that she has given it up. When she comes back to the instrument and finds him sitting there, he stands up and gives her the seat with cold, perfect politeness.
Main Characters
Anne Elliot is 27. She is thoughtful, quiet and the person everyone relies on in a crisis, though her family often overlooks her. Captain Wentworth is confident, lively and charming in company. The narrator tells us he has not forgiven Anne. He believes she gave him up because she was too easily persuaded, and he says he is now ready to marry almost any pleasant young woman, as long as she has a firm mind and a gentle manner. Mary Musgrove, Anne's sister, is self-centred and quick to feel slighted. The rest of the cast are the Musgroves of Uppercross and the Crofts, who are renting Kellynch Hall. Lady Russell does not appear in these chapters, but her advice eight years ago is the reason for all this pain.
Background: Class, the Navy, and Second Chances
Persuasion was Jane Austen's last finished novel. It came out in late 1817, a few months after her death. Eight years before the story begins, in 1806, the 19-year-old Anne was engaged to Wentworth. At that time he was a young officer with no money and no family connections. Lady Russell, Anne's godmother and trusted adviser, persuaded her that the match was imprudent, and Anne broke it off.
Wentworth's return shows how much had changed. In the long wars against Napoleon, naval officers could win promotion and prize money (a share of the value of enemy ships they captured). The Royal Navy let men rise by merit in a way inherited rank did not. Austen had two brothers in the navy, and the novel clearly admires sailors. Mrs Croft's spirited reply, when her brother says women should not live on ships, comes from the same attitude. She asks him to treat women as reasonable people, not as fragile ladies, and she points out that she has sailed with the Admiral many times. Many readers see these chapters as the novel's quiet argument: the man Anne was told was beneath her has become one of the most admired men in the room.
What the Manga Changed or Added
The manga follows Austen's order of events closely, but it adds visual drama in places where the novel says very little. Austen describes the reunion in a few lines: a half-meeting of eyes, a bow, a voice, a crowded room that soon empties. The manga's frozen moment, the details of glances, gloves and window light, and the panel that sets Anne's younger self beside her present self are all new inventions. The novel never shows that earlier scene directly.
The layout of the cottage, the autumn light of the shooting season, the seating at dinner, Wentworth's gestures as he tells his sea stories, the music Anne plays and the style of dance are also the artists' choices. They were picked to fit the period. Anne's inner monologue is reworded from the narrator's voice into manga-style thought balloons. One thing the manga keeps from the original is Anne's steady, practical handling of little Charles's injury, because it matters so much to who she is.
Where to Read It
If you want to see this tense, painful reunion play out panel by panel, Episode 4 of PERSUASION: A Second Chance at Love is on Manga Portal. Every episode is free to read, and you don't need an account. Austen's original novel is also in the public domain and free on Project Gutenberg (eBook #105) if you'd like to compare the two.
Characters in this episode
Anne Elliot
The 27-year-old heroine, thoughtful and quietly capable, who broke off her engagement to Wentworth eight years earlier and still loves him.
Captain Frederick Wentworth
Anne's former fiancé, now a wealthy and admired naval captain who still resents her for giving him up.
Mary Musgrove
Anne's self-absorbed younger sister, who innocently repeats Wentworth's hurtful remark to Anne.
Charles Musgrove
Mary's good-natured husband, a keen sportsman, who goes shooting with Wentworth.
Henrietta and Louisa Musgrove
Charles's lively younger sisters, who are fascinated by Wentworth and his stories of the sea.
Admiral and Mrs Croft
The tenants of Kellynch Hall; Mrs Croft is Wentworth's outspoken sister, who has sailed the world with her husband.
FAQ
What does Captain Wentworth say about Anne in Persuasion?
After meeting her again in Chapter 7, he tells one of the Musgrove sisters that Anne is so changed he would not have known her. Mary passes the remark on to Anne, who is deeply hurt by it.
Why did Anne Elliot break off her engagement to Wentworth?
In 1806 Wentworth had no fortune and no connections, and Lady Russell, Anne's godmother, persuaded her that the marriage was unwise. Anne, who was 19, followed her advice and has regretted it ever since.
Why doesn't Anne go to the dinner at Uppercross?
Her nephew, little Charles, falls and dislocates his collarbone just before the dinner. His parents go anyway, and Anne offers to stay and nurse him, which also lets her put off meeting Wentworth.
Does Wentworth still love Anne in Chapter 8?
At this point the narrator says he has not forgiven her and is looking for someone else to marry. He treats her with cold courtesy, though small moments, like giving up the piano seat to her, hint that he is still very aware of her.
When was Persuasion published?
Persuasion came out in late 1817, a few months after Jane Austen's death, together with Northanger Abbey. It was the last novel she finished.
