Summary:
The Elliot family (Sir
Walter, a widow and 3 daughters; Elizabeth, Anne and Mary) are a respected,
titled landowning family. Mary is
married to a wealthy man (Charles Musgrove) and Elizabeth and Anne are single. Sir Walter loves his lavish lifestyle and has
brought his family into massive debt with his overabundant spending. A friend
convinces him that he must rent out his estate and relocate to a less expensive
town (Bath) and a smaller house where his expenses will be less in order to
save the financial situation of his family. Sir Walter rents his house to
Admiral and Mrs. Croft, wealthy Navy people who earned their wealth rather than
inherited it unlike Sir Walter. Mrs.
Croft is the sister of Anne’s former love.
Anne, now 27 was in love at age 19 with Captain Wentworth. They were
engaged, but Anne was persuaded by family and friends that the Captain was not
of “high enough consequence” and not rich which lead to Anne breaking off the
engagement and regretted the decision for 9 years. During that time, Captain Wentworth worked
hard in the Navy and growing in both status and wealth. After several meetings and finally
discovering that they both still loved each other, Anne and Captain Wentworth
renew their engagement.
Theme:
Marriage and family
Having a historical
setting of early 1800’s England, the plot involving an early marriage society
perfectly coincides with the themes discussed in the class this semester. The
theme of marriage and family is ever present in the novel, specially
encompassing the issue of influence between marriage and family members. A
potential spouse with a title and money was deemed superior to a mate without
these things and family members felt an obligation to ensure their daughters,
sisters, son, etc would marry someone of equal status. Sir Walter did not feel
that traits such as; good character, hard work, good sense, or independence
that Captain Wentworth possessed and dismissed him as a husband for his
daughter Anne, even though they loved each other. It was not until Captain Wentworth came back
a wealthy Navy man that Sir Walter considered him and gave Anne his
blessing. Another facet is how much
weight should a person give to others opinions when deciding who to marry in
the early marriage society. In 19th-century
England, Anne followed the norm of the day and broke off her engagement to the
Captain whom she loved because family and friends persuaded her to do so. She was raised in the traditions of the
wealthy titled family and though it was difficult because she loved the
Captain, she followed her sense of duty, allowing herself to be influenced by
her family and friends, rather than to her heart. This leads to another facet of marriage and
family—that of the plight of a single woman in 19th century
England. Women of the upper middle class
didn’t have many choices---marry an approved man or become a spinster. Anne, still single at age 27 was considered
unlikely to marry due to her age. She
would not inherit from her father because she was a woman and therefore was
doomed to a dismal future. Another facet of the marriage and family theme of
the book is looking at an unconventional marriage that Admiral Croft and his
wife had. Typically the man would be
responsible for things outside the home with the woman taking care of running
the household and taking care of the children.
The Admiral and Mrs. Croft did things differently with Mrs. Croft
sailing with her husband and the Admiral sharing the chores when they were
home.
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