tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580946865077078981.post7596614279438660262..comments2023-06-15T07:06:27.756-04:00Comments on Elliot's Reading: Austen's Persuasion: One clueless character and one who can't speak his mind elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00097945161482561807noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580946865077078981.post-86658513666321099282017-02-18T07:09:46.565-05:002017-02-18T07:09:46.565-05:00Points well taken, and I will think about your ins...Points well taken, and I will think about your insights as I finish reading this novel. But I still sometimes want to reach into it and shake these characters by the shoulder: Wake up! elliothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00097945161482561807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580946865077078981.post-15470006992694704942017-02-17T12:58:43.050-05:002017-02-17T12:58:43.050-05:00Hi, Elliot --
I think that Anne's misinterpret...Hi, Elliot --<br />I think that Anne's misinterpretation of Wentworth's comment(s) reflects a very common characteristic of people, esp. perhaps people who are somewhat insecure and unsure how others (esp. those that they care for) feel about them. One of Austen's greatest abilities is to show us the interior fears and insecurities of people; and while the reader may think he/she "knows" what the various characters feel but haven't expressed, of course the characters themselves don't know...<br />Also -- in speaking of Wentworth's silence, you discount his resentment and hurt from his earlier rejection by Anne; and his personality, in any case, is not an open, touchy-feely one, as it were. To answer your question: I didn't have trouble following the plot at the beginning, but perhaps I'm in the minority. Joceliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11455817744971413103noreply@blogger.com