Behind the Story: Persuasion

Today, Netflix released a new adaptation of Jane Austen's final completed novel, Persuasion. Whether you loved or hated the new adaptation, it's a good time to look at the story behind the story.

Persuasion: An Overview

Persuasion begins seven years after the broken engagement of Anne Elliot, often called Austen's "most mature" heroine, and Capt. Frederick Wentworth. Seven years earlier, a much younger Anne had accepted Wentworth's proposal, only to be persuaded by her family to break the engagement to the then lowly and unimportant naval officer. Through a series of events, the couple reconnects years later with a second chance for love.

Persuasion Fast Facts

• Persuasion was originally published on December 20, 1817, six months after Austen's death. Her brother and sister, Cassandra, were instrumental in getting it published and making sure Austen's novels carried her name. (Most of her books had previously been published as "by a lady."

• The book was published along with Northanger Abbey.

• It is Austen's final completed work. Another novel, Sanditon was unfinished at the time of her death.

• Austen didn't give Persuasion its title; her brother, Henry, did. Apparently among family, she had referred to the novel as The Elliots.

• Austen had finished the manuscript for Persuasion on August 6, 1816, though she took no steps to get it published at that time. She was 40 years old.

• Austen had completed an earlier draft in July 1816, but was unhappy with ending so she rewrote the final two chapters.

Is Persuasion based on Jane Austen's life?

As mentioned earlier, many scholars regard Anne Elliot as one of Austen's most mature heroines. It feels a bit more serious and somber than Austen's earlier novels, and the character of Anne is a woman who is self-reflective and introspective. Austen definitely used themes and places from her own life to shape this novel. Her brothers had served in the navy; she included locations she had visited or places she had lived; Anne (like Elizabeth Bennet) shared Austen's love for walking.

Jane Austen c. 1810. 7 Continents History/Everett Collection

When Jane was 19 (like Anne), she met Thomas Lefroy, the Irish nephew of a family friend. Austen wrote her sister Cassandra that the couple had often flirted and danced together. In January of 1976, Austen wrote Cassandra that “I rather expect to receive an offer from my friend in the course of the evening [i.e., of the fourth ball at Ashe, the Lefroy home]. I shall refuse him, however, unless he promises to give away his white Coat.” Whatever the offer—whether a dance or marriage—we may never know. Lefroy soon returned to Ireland, and any romance that might of been fizzled out.

Austen was also engaged—for one night—when she was 27, interestingly around the same age as Anne in Persuasion. In 1802, Austen had traveled to Steventon to visit her former neighbors and old friends, the Bigg-Wither family. On December 2, 1802, Harris Bigg-Wither proposed to Austen, and she accepted—only to break the engagement the next day.

So while the book may not be a fictionalized version of Austen's own life, it is likely, at the very least, deeply influenced by her own experiences, thoughts and feelings.

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Resources Consulted for this article

• The Jane Austen Society of North America

• History.com's History Stories

• Joan Klingel Ray's paper "The One-Sided Romance of Jane Austen and Tom Lefroy” published in 2007 by the Jane Austen Society of North America.

• Digital Austen