On Jane Austen and Seeing Ourselves in Stories

I’ve had Jane Austen on my mind lately. It feels like over-the-top, “anti-historical” shows and films are having a moment, and while I love The Great and am entertained by Bridgerton, I’m not quite sure what to think about the new film Persuasion, Austen’s classic turned into a surprisingly comedic romance.

The story of Persuasion has always stuck with me because of its melancholy, its despair, its regret. I spent much of my early adulthood building my own regrets and learning that a lack of independence usually means disappointment and unhappiness, so the story spoke to me. I could relate.

This new adaptation takes a lighthearted approach to the story, making Anne into a comedic commentator on her own mistakes as she frequently breaks the fourth wall to explain her feelings. I don’t hate it as much as some do, but it’s not the subtle character development and quiet desperation that I relished as an eighteen-year-old stay-at-home daughter.

The year after I graduated homeschool, I decided I would read all of Jane Austen’s books back to back. I had this idea that I should experience all of them while I was single, as if they wouldn’t be as special after I were married. (Little did I know, there was no rush as it would be seven more years before I got married.)

I loved all of the novels, and their heroines. I related to Marianne Dashwood’s hopeless romanticism, Elizabeth Bennet’s love of quick wit, and Anne Elliot’s reserve and deep feeling. I could see myself in their shoes, dancing in candlelit ballrooms and traipsing through fields. Feeling uncertain about the future. Navigating a world of strict rules, and understanding the harsh consequences when one breaks those rules.

It also occurred to me that I could relate to Jane Austen’s heroines more than any modern-day characters. If you think about it, there aren’t any unironic contemporary stories in which a young woman’s father oversees her courtship, sets up a dowry and a bride-price, and enlists chaperones to follow her and her suitor everywhere they go. (This deficit in patriarchal literature is probably why Vision Forum republished the Elsie Dinsmore books.)

I couldn’t see myself in many modern stories. As a child, the girls in my neighborhood loved The Baby-Sitters Club books, but I was far from understanding the cultural context of public school girls and I couldn’t connect with them. But I loved reading a wide range of books anyway because it allowed me to imagine different ways of life and alternative futures for girls.

So when I read through all of Jane Austen’s novels, I found a bit of respite from the cognitive dissonance I was already experiencing as a young adult. I was hopeful that I could make the lifestyle my father chose for me work. If Jane Bennet could find true love despite her world’s narrow boundaries, maybe I could too.

I had been told by my father that romantic emotions were sinful until one was betrothed to be married, which meant I would have to promise to marry someone before I allowed myself to love him. I knew in my core that this wasn’t what I wanted, that it was probably impossible to achieve. I didn’t want to marry anyone without love, even if he did check off all my father’s financial and theological boxes.

I knew, as Austen’s heroines knew, that love is vital to existence.

Jane Austen’s novels gave me space to see myself and my situation in a way modern stories couldn’t, and they will always have a special place on my shelf. Maybe that’s why interpretations that cater to a modern audience by using phrases like “if you’re a five in London, you’re a ten in Bath” and calling sheet music “a playlist” fall a little flat in my opinion. Because the time period, the social rules, the hidden feelings—that’s what appealed to me in the first place.

That said, if the new Persuasion introduces more people to the magic of Jane Austen, then I can be happy. This adaptation isn’t for me, but perhaps it’s just what someone else needs. Maybe another young woman can see herself in the film and feel less alone. Maybe this Persuasion will bring hope for someone else the way the original did for me.