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DEEKSHA DEVI CHOUDHARY

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Familial structures in Jane Austen’s Persuasion.

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31ST MARCH 2022

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 Choudhary 1

Deeksha Devi Choudhary

Fiction (120351104)

31st March 2022

Familial structures in Jane Austen’s Persuasion.

In Jane Austen's novel Persuasion, the familial structure is complex. Austen

elaborates the effect of family on the central characters “By focusing in most of her novels

(Emma and Persuasion are exceptions) on heroines who occupy positions of socioeconomic

disadvantage in relation to those around them, and on the difficulties presented to them by

assumptions, conventions, and practices of their worlds” (Keymes). We have two principal

families, the Elliots and the Musgroves, as well as a range of additional families, including

the Hayters, Harvilles, Daryamples, Clay, Crofts, Wentworth, Benwick, Shepherd, and

Smith. The novel deeply emphasizes social mobility, aristocratic and domestic values in

families and class structures. The families in Austen's universe of Persuasion differ from one

another in numerous ways.

The head of the Elliot family, Walter Elliot, "never took up any book but the

Baronetage," indicating that he is a haughty man at the age of "fifty-four," as Austen

describes as the "silly father."(Austen 9-11) Following Lady Elliot's demise, the family

suffered a huge setback in that each of the members who were revolving in the orbit around

Lady Elliot was dispersed. Lady Russell, who was the closest friend of Lady Elliot and had

no family of her own, gave the Elliots the best advice and recommendations when necessary.

While Elizabeth showed unsisterly values towards her sisters but being her father’s particular

favorite, Mary became a wife at nineteen and consequently, the mother of two boys. Anne,

who was only Anne, became the Musgroves' goddaughter, a confidante, a companion of the

Crofts despite her previous relationship with Wentworth, a friend of Mrs. Smith and Captain
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Benwick (both of whom are regarded as low-class and boring, respectively by Walter Elliot),

and, by the end of the novel, the wife of Fredrick Wentworth. Mrs. Clay and Lady Russell,

for example, are lone characters with no family who have been adopted into the Elliot family.

Elizabeth and Walter's narcissistic conduct can be described as a parasite on Mrs. Clay's

sugarcoated attention.

On the other hand, the Musgrove family was 'old English style' for the elders and

'new' for the youngers (Austen 45). Musgroves exhibits the attribute of 'positive parenting'1 in

terms of their four children (one dead- Richard Musgrove), as opposed to the Elliots, who are

refined and dignified. Every one of the siblings gets along swimmingly. Musgroves show

their affection for one another by spending time together, partying, dancing, eating meals,

gossiping, and having talks with Anne, unlike the Elliots who do not even consider Anne's

views. ‘Only Anne’ (Austen, 12) becomes one and only Anne for everyone except her own

family. Charles Musgrove, the eldest son, is the heir to his father's property, making him

eligible to be Mary's suitor giving her an unnatural worth.

Despite their lack of education, Mr. and Mrs. Musgroves were fair-minded enough to

send their girls to a respectable school. Henrietta and Louisa display 'sisterly'2 worries that the

Elliot sisters lack. When Henrietta marries her first love, Charles Hayter, a relative from her

mother's sister's family, it exemplifies the Musgroves' open attitude. Even though they knew

the Hayters were financially weaker than them, the older Musgroves did not let financial

worries get in the way of their daughter's happiness. In words of Richard Handler and Daniel

1
Means to take effective, sensitive, and encouraging steps towards children instead of taking
violent, rude, and demoralizing effects. It is important for the kids to have a healthy
environment when before they grow up and become an adult.
2
Appropriate values to have in sisters without envy and hate.
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A. Segal- “Austen’s texts represent a wide range of social diversity, both in terms of class and

human geography.” (Segal)

From minor to major families, the chain progresses in the order of being a perfect

family. Lady Russell, Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Clay, Captain Benwick, William Elliot, and Mr.

Shepherd are the soul delegates of their lineage. Whereas, Daryample, Crofts, and Wentworth

families have two-two members each. Hayters, Harvilles, Elliots, and Musgroves all had

more family members, but the Elliots can still be left off the list because they were never

grateful to have each other Jane Austen's family in Persuasion demonstrates to us that

families with spouses and wives are generally happier. Because they were content with what

they had, i.e family, the Hayters and Musgroves never had pride on one side and envy on the

other. Despite the fact that Harville's family played a little role, Austen showed that they were

satisfied with whatever they had by allowing Louisa to remain with them despite having "

rooms so small as none but those who invite from the heart could think capable of

accommodating so many " (Austen 103). Through the Elliots, Austen conveys the anxiety of

a family following the death of the family's leading lady. “Among Austen’s great

achievements in Persuasion is the creation, through tiny details, of a sense of growing

happiness.” (Tuite) Persuasion is an excellent metaphor for many types of families and their

relatable behavioral patterns

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Works Cited

Austen, Jane. Persuasion. New Delhi: Fingerprint! Publishing, 2018.

Keymes, Tom. Jane Austen: Writing, Society, Politics. UK: Oxford University Press, 2020.
Segal, Richard Handler and Daniel A. Hierarchies of Choice: The Social Construction of
Rank in Jane Austen. US: Wiley on behalf of the American Anthropological
Association, 1985. <https://www.jstor.org/stable/644177>.
Tuite, Claudia L. Johnson and Clara, ed. A Companion To Jane Austen. US: Blackwell
Publishing, 2009.