Persuasion--Austin Poor Dick
“And upon looking over his letters and things, she found it was so, and is perfectly sure that this must be the very man, and her head is quite full of it, and of poor Richard!” (Austen, 34)Richard Musgrove is a very, very minor character in Jane Austen’s Persuasion. However, his presence in the novel allows Austen to initially stake her claim on one of the novel’s overriding themes. Austen presents the idea that one’s merit is more a measure of usefulness and worth than the rank that one’s family holds. This is a very powerful and relatively new idea for the early 18th century, a time period in which the aristocracy is still a powerful social class. Austen’s exploration of usefulness vs. uselessness allows the reader to gain a glimpse of the true purpose of Persuasion. That being that happiness and self-fulfillment can only be achieved when one refuses the shackles of the ineffectual aristocracy. Austen seems to be expounding on Richard’s uselessness and his failure to live up to the promise of his birth and entitlement. This is a very important point. It seems that in the world of Persuasion, it is the qualities of usefulness, resourcefulness and capability that are attractive to the reader. To the aristocracy, what one does
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Austens Persuasion, Capt Wentworth, Mary Persuasion, Elizabeth Elliot's, Wentworth Anne, Kellynch Hall, Fortunately Anne, Wentworth Anne--are, , Elliot Anne, capt wentworth, takes charge, austen 19, austen 34, novel anne, austen reader, fortunately anne, class austen, happiness self-fulfillment,
Approximate Word count = 1001
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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