Who Is Anne Elliot?
The heroine still in love after eight years
Anne Elliot is the heroine of Jane Austen's novel Persuasion and the second daughter of the baronet Sir Walter Elliot. She is 27, clever, kind, and sensible, yet her father and older sister never listen to her opinions and treat her as unimportant at home.
At 19, she became engaged to the naval officer Frederick Wentworth, but Lady Russell, who was like a mother to her, persuaded her that the match would not be good for him either, and Anne broke it off. For eight years since, she has gone on loving him. When her father rents out the family home, Anne goes to stay with her sister Mary at Uppercross. There she meets the now-successful Wentworth again. Hurt by his coldness and by his remark that she has changed beyond recognition, she still quietly faces her own feelings.
Around the age of 22, Anne also turned down a marriage proposal from Charles Musgrove, which shows that Wentworth never left her heart. She rarely stands out, but she is often the one who listens to others and helps people in trouble, and that is a big part of her charm.
Episodes featuring this character5
NEWEpisode 1
Please Stay Out of the MirrorPersuasion
In a grand house sinking under debt, Anne Elliot, the middle daughter, is the one no one in her family listens to. Her vain father and older sister insist they can't possibly give up a single horse or servant. In the end the family decides to let the house and move to Bath. Then, at dusk, a single word drifts through a doorway — "navy" — and for one moment, Anne's eyes waver.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 2
My Ex's Sister Is Moving Into My HousePersuasion (Jane Austen)
While her family turns choosing a tenant into a comedy, settling on a navy admiral, 27-year-old Anne Elliot ends up saying a name before anyone else can. It belongs to the man she gave up more than seven years ago. Out on the woodland path, she remembers the summer she was nineteen, and quietly accepts that his sister is about to live in her home.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 3
Every Night, They Praise the Man I LeftPersuasion (Jane Austen)
Her family leaves her behind because "no one will miss Anne if she stays." So Anne goes to her sister's house three miles away, where everyone soon treats her as the one person who'll listen to their complaints. But in that house, the name of the man she gave up eight years ago starts coming up every night, and always as praise.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 4
Her 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.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 5
I Overheard My Ex Through the HedgePersuasion (Jane Austen)
Anne finds herself alone in the nursery with the man she was persuaded to reject eight years ago. Days later, on a long autumn walk, she overhears his voice from behind a hedgerow, condemning people who change their hearts because others tell them to.
19 pages