Persuasion (Jane Austen) Summary
Persuasion is the last completed novel by the English writer Jane Austen. It was published at the end of 1817, the year she died. The story is set in England around 1814. Its heroine, Anne Elliot, is 27. Eight years earlier, at 19, she was engaged to a young naval officer named Frederick Wentworth. Lady Russell, the family friend who had been like a mother to her, persuaded her that marrying a man with no money and no clear future was too risky, so Anne broke off the engagement. She has never forgotten him, and she has carried that regret quietly and alone ever since.
The story begins when Anne's father, Sir Walter Elliot, a baronet who is proud of his good looks and his family name, falls deep into debt. He decides to rent out Kellynch Hall, the family's ancestral home, and move to the city of Bath. The new tenant is Admiral Croft, and his wife turns out to be Wentworth's sister. Anne goes to stay with her younger sister Mary at Uppercross, where she becomes the patient listener for the whole Musgrove family. Then Captain Wentworth, who has risen in rank and made a fortune during the war, arrives to visit his sister and her husband.
When they meet again after eight years, Wentworth is cold and distant toward Anne, and he remarks that she is so changed he would not have known her. He is surrounded by the cheerful Musgrove sisters, Henrietta and Louisa, and he praises Louisa above all for her firm, determined character. Anne overhears this from the other side of a hedgerow. Even so, his small kindnesses shake her heart: he pulls her unruly little nephew off her back, and when she is tired from a long walk, he arranges for her to ride home in his sister's carriage.
Can you face a love you once gave up? Was it right to make a choice because others persuaded you? Persuasion is loved for its quiet, grown-up romance and its witty, humorous portraits of people obsessed with rank and appearances. This manga version tells the story of Anne's shifting feelings in plain, easy-to-follow language that young readers can enjoy too.
Story summary
Episode 1Please Stay Out of the Mirror — Persuasion
In the mangaIn 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.
In the original mythPersuasion opens not with its heroine but with her father. Sir Walter Elliot, a baronet (a hereditary title just below the nobility) who lives at Kellynch Hall in Somerset, has one favorite book: the Baronetage, a reference guide to titled families. He likes to open it at his own family's entry and read about himself again and again. Austen tells us plainly that vanity is the whole of his character: he is proud of…
Episode 2My Ex's Sister Is Moving Into My House — Persuasion (Jane Austen)
In the mangaWhile 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.
In the original mythPersuasion opens in the summer of 1814. The long wars against Napoleon seem to be over, and navy officers are coming home in large numbers. Sir Walter Elliot, a baronet who cares a great deal about looks and rank, has spent far more than he can afford. To save money, his family has agreed to rent out their country house, Kellynch Hall, and move to the city of Bath.
Episode 3Every Night, They Praise the Man I Left — Persuasion (Jane Austen)
In the mangaHer 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.
In the original mythSir Walter Elliot, a vain baronet, has spent more money than he has, so he agrees to rent out Kellynch Hall, the family's country house. Admiral Croft, a naval officer, comes to look at it with his wife. The Admiral is so plain-spoken and good-natured that even Sir Walter, who usually looks down on weather-beaten sailors, likes him, and the deal is done quickly. Anne knows Mrs Croft is Captain Frederick Wentworth's…
Episode 4Her Ex's Verdict: "I Wouldn't Know Her" — Persuasion (Jane Austen)
In the mangaHer 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.
In the original mythCaptain 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…
Episode 5I Overheard My Ex Through the Hedge — Persuasion (Jane Austen)
In the mangaAnne 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.
In the original mythCaptain Frederick Wentworth, a naval officer who came home rich from the war, is staying at Kellynch Hall with his sister Mrs. Croft and her husband, Admiral Croft, who rent the house from Anne's father. He rides over to Uppercross almost every day, and the neighbourhood keeps guessing which Musgrove sister he will marry, Henrietta or Louisa. Henrietta's cousin Charles Hayter, a young curate, notices that she has…