True Jane-heads know that “Persuasion,” though not one of her flashiest, best-known works, is nevertheless among her finest. Like “Pride and Prejudice,” it takes as its subject the question of how minds and judgments are changed through new information or perspective. But where Lizzy Bennet is a young, bold, headstrong woman who has never made a mistake worth losing sleep over before, Anne Elliot has lived through the first blush of her youth and has had the opportunity to live with regrets about how she made up her mind during those innocent years. She comes to the events of the novel with a great deal of hard-earned perspective on how decisions are made, and the terrible consequences of making the wrong one.
Anne Elliot was, as a 19-year-old girl, desperately in love with an ambitious but hard-up naval captain, Frederick Wentworth. Her loving, conservative-minded godmother, Lady Russell, convinced her that a marriage to Captain Wentworth would be an unwise one for both parties, and so she ended their engagement. He was deeply wounded, and she was heartbroken — and over the course of the following eight years, she came to feel that her pain and loss were far greater than any advantage they’d gained from separating. She has spent almost a decade grieving for the loss of her love, physically withering, losing her beauty, and becoming a spinster.
But Anne is not just a sad, bitter woman. She has grace for her younger self and for her godmother; she does not conclude that receptivity to persuasion is inherently bad. She only develops her finely tuned understanding of the human heart. She is surrounded by ridiculous, vain people (her immediate family), and she has both the discernment to see their flaws and the loving heart to persuade herself of their best qualities. She values them despite their inability to properly value her. Perhaps her greatest gift is the ability to put herself in the right state of mind to meet everyone, no matter how silly or selfish, at exactly where they are, to expect little enough not to be disappointed or hurt, and to appreciate what good she can take from their company.
This is not the Anne Elliot that Dakota Johnson gives us in “Persuasion” (2022). The Anne Elliot of the movie is a recklessly beautiful mess, intelligent and ruthlessly critical but prone to social faux pas and thoughtless insults. She papers over her sadness with self-loathing and bottles of red wine consumed alone in her room. Oddly, everyone else in the movie still reacts to her as though she’s the restrained, cultivated Anne of the book. One can’t overstate how much she is Fleabag, all lack of impulse control and caustic remarks to the camera; but while Fleabag is recognized as a bit of a narcissistic nightmare by her associates, Anne is perceived as saintly. This does not add up! It just doesn’t.
The rest of the cast of characters have been punched up, by which we mean “flattened into paper dolls.” Her vain family members are now akin to clinical sociopaths; her good-natured but silly and selfish sisters-in-law, the Musgroves, are now “beautiful people in every way.” Instead of a textured world of imperfect humans for Anne to navigate with shrewd generosity, Anne is now the only textured, imperfect human helplessly adrift among a sea of saints and villains.
And then there is the endless list of anachronisms (“A London 5 is a Bath 10”), think-piecey dialogue (“marriage is transactional for women!”) and incongruous details (faded, romantically disregarded Anne is always wearing lipstick and looking like the most eye-catching woman in any room).
There are delightful performances (Richard Grant as Sir Walter Eliot and Henry Golding as his smug heir are particularly fun), luscious visuals, and some pleasures to take from this movie. But mostly it’s a bit infuriating. The story has been followed faithfully and yet hollowed out; the characters have been reimagined into modern archetypes that no longer make sense for the play they’re enacting.
We discuss all this and more in this week’s episode. Hope you enjoy! xo
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We’ve been watching…
“The Bear,” the Hulu drama series that spawned a million posts about how sexy Jeremy Allen White’s arms look emerging from a plain white tee. If you haven’t watched it yet, I do recommend it so far. It’s an unexpectedly palatable blend of gritty family drama, comic yelling matches in broad Chicago accents, workplace intrigue, Jeremy Allen White’s undeniable sex appeal, and vibey cooking montages set to tootling jazz. -Claire
“Indian Matchmaking” season 2! Matchmaker Seema Taparia is back again to match couples in both India and the United States. It’s a sweet and easy watch, and some familiar faces from season 1 pop back in. -Emma
We’ve been reading…
“Persuasion,” fittingly enough. Also, Kelsey McKinney’s fantastic essay over at Defector about Sydney Sweeney, nepotism babies, and how the executive class have found more and more effective ways of capturing all the wealth created by people who actually make things. -Claire
“The Arc,” a slightly dystopian, satirical romantic novel by Tory Henwood Hoen about a 35-year-old woman in New York City who is so exhausted by dating that she pays $40,000 to a bespoke service called, of course, The Arc, to find her perfect match. It has the tone of Leigh Stein’s “Self Care,” but the romance of an Emily Henry or Jasmine Guillory novel. -Emma
We’ve been listening to…
The finale of “Fed Up,” which came WAY too soon! I need approximately 150 more episodes please. -Emma
We’ve been buying…
Merit Beauty’s Signature Lip in Millennial, a classic pink. I was a bit skeptical of this lipstick when it came out, but I finally bought it in Cabo (a warm red) and found that it wasn’t as greasy as I’d feared, it applies smoothly, and it looks and feels great to wear all day (as someone who tends to get dry lips from most lip colors).
Also, I saw someone style a really cute outfit on Instagram (I know, I know) around a sheer long-sleeve top, so I bought a sheer long-sleeve top. It’s not exactly long-sleeve weather right now, but I am obsessed with it as a top layer over a cute bralette and as a bottom layer for my dresses in the fall. -Claire
I needed some comfy heels for an upcoming wedding that is largely taking place on grass. I found these Sam Edelman platform sandals which match everything and can easily take me from summer to fall. The best part is — they’re on sale at both Saks Fifth Avenue and Shopbop!
I also grabbed this cropped t-shirt bralette from Aerie in both True Black and Blue Lion. It works for going out if you pair it under a blazer with some high-waisted pants, or working out. I recommend sizing up at least one size. -Emma
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