Who Is Captain Frederick Wentworth (Captain Wentworth)?
Anne's former fiancé, a naval captain
Frederick Wentworth
Frederick Wentworth is the naval officer who is Anne Elliot's love interest in Persuasion. In 1806, newly promoted to Commander for his part in the naval battle off Santo Domingo, he met Anne and the two became engaged.
At the time he had no fortune and no powerful relatives, and Anne's side broke off the engagement. Angry, he returned to sea, won honors in the war, rose to Captain, and made a fortune from prize money for capturing enemy ships. Eight years later he appears at Uppercross to visit his sister, Mrs. Croft, and greets Anne with nothing more than a cool bow. Surrounded by the Musgrove sisters, he tells stories of life at sea and says he admires a woman with a firm mind.
Yet even while his words are cold, his actions show care: he rescues Anne when a child clings to her back, and he sees that she rides home in his sister's carriage when she is worn out from walking. His belief in the value of a firm, steady character ties into the central theme of the whole novel.
Episodes featuring this character4
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