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The Pain of Persuasion - Chapter I Deep Reading (Patreon)

Published:
2021-05-23 13:04:46
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

This is a deep lecture, but we cover a lot of ground despite only making it through the first chapter.

We're talking about Jane Austen's last moments and death, struggling with one's own mortality, how one should start a novel, comparing the openings of all of Austen's major narratives (and those that came before her), and Austen's mastery of incidental description.

When we read Tolstoy, Proust, and Dostoyevsky, we're reading Austen. And when we read Austen, we're reading Shakespeare. I think we see that as we slowly become acquainted with Anne, Sir Walter, and Lady Russell at Kellynch Hall.

Timestamps:

  • 0:00 Jane Austen’s letters and personal correspondence
  • 12:00 - my own struggle with mortality
  • 13:00 - write letters to the ones you love
  • 14:00 - how literature saved me
  • 14:40 - why I’m older than my age
  • 15:45 - Henry Austen’s obituary for his sister 
  • 17:00 when the reader is ready the book appears
  • 18:00 nobody can give you advice (trust your gut)
  • 20:00 was Lady Russell right?
  • 22:00 Jane Austen’s last moments
  • 26:00 collecting openings to novels
  • 26:30 the rise of the reading public
  • 27:00 where should you start a novel?
  • 27:20 in medias res
  • 28:00 first person? Author as character?
  • 29:00 the death of the author
  • 29:30 the first novelists beat Proust and Joyce
  • 30:00 Fielding’s Tom Jones
  • 32:00 Richardson’s Clarissa
  • 33:00 Sterne’s Tristram Shandy
  • 34:00 Radcliffe’s Mysteries of Udolpho
  • 36:00 why you should collect a database of openings
  • 36:40 Sense and Sensibility
  • 37:00 Pride and Prejudice
  • 38:00 Mansfield Park
  • 38:30 Emma
  • 39:00 Northanger Abbey
  • 40:00 Persuasion
  • 41:00 Lady Susan
  • 42:00 the definition and etymology of “persuasion”
  • 43:00 deep reading the opening of Persuasion
  • 44:00 subtext and Hemingway in the Austenite tradition
  • 44:50 persevering through the opening of Persuasion
  • 45:00 Austen’s mastery of incidental description and relative clauses
  • 46:00 Proust in the tradition of Austen
  • 46:00 baronetcy and British nobility, gentry, aristocracy
  • 48:00 how to do a close reading of a novel
  • 49:00 Joseph Conrad, Virginia Woolf, and realism - what is reality?
  • 49:30 John Ruskin on realism
  • 51:00 how to discern a sadness beneath the surface
  • 52:00 vanity vs pride (Pride and Prejudice)
  • 55:00 the character who is never directly quoted
  • 55:40 the late Lady Elliot
  • 56:30 the art of negative description
  • 58:00 meeting Anne Elliot
  • 1:06:00 “when pain is over, the remembrance of it becomes a pleasure”
  • 1:08:00 letting and home being where the heart is

What were your first thoughts about reading the opening of Persuasion? 

Can you discern the melancholy?

Does Austen resonate with you? 

Happy reading, everybody! 

Files

Previews only

Jane Austen's Persuasion - Chapter I Deep Reading

0:00 Jane Austen’s letters and personal correspondence 12:00 - my own struggle with mortality 13:00 - write letters to the ones you love 14:00 - how literature saved me 14:40 - why I’m older than my age 15:45 - Henry Austen’s obituary for his sister 17:00 when the reader is ready the book appears 18:00 nobody can give you advice (trust your gut) 20:00 was Lady Russell right? 22:00 Jane Austen’s last moments 26:00 collecting openings to novels 26:30 the rise of the reading public 27:00 where should you start a novel? 27:20 in medias res 28:00 first person? Author as character? 29:00 the death of the author 29:30 the first novelists beat Proust and Joyce 30:00 Fielding’s Tom Jones 32:00 Richardson’s Clarissa 33:00 Sterne’s Tristram Shandy 34:00 Radcliffe’s Mysteries of Udolpho 36:00 why you should collect a database of openings 36:40 Sense and Sensibility 37:00 Pride and Prejudice 38:00 Mansfield Park 38:30 Emma 39:00 Northanger Abbey 40:00 Persuasion 41:00 Lady Susan 42:00 the definition and etymology of “persuasion” 43:00 deep reading the opening of Persuasion 44:00 subtext and Hemingway in the Austenite tradition 44:50 persevering through the opening of Persuasion 45:00 Austen’s mastery of incidental description and relative clauses 46:00 Proust in the tradition of Austen 46:00 baronetcy and British nobility, gentry, aristocracy 48:00 how to do a close reading of a novel 49:00 Joseph Conrad, Virginia Woolf, and realism - what is reality? 49:30 John Ruskin on realism 51:00 how to discern a sadness beneath the surface 52:00 vanity vs pride (Pride and Prejudice) 55:00 the character who is never directly quoted 55:40 the late Lady Elliot 56:30 the art of negative description 58:00 meeting Anne Elliot 1:06:00 “when pain is over, the remembrance of it becomes a pleasure” 1:08:00 letting and home being where the heart is

Comments

Emma Yap

Really enjoyed this video! The excerpts from Jane's letters, and the description of her in her brother's obituary, were very moving to me, and fundamentally changed the way I think about JA. A lot of films portray Jane Austen as if she's one of her characters - listening to her letters made me think of her as a real person, and made me appreciate how warm, intelligent, and kind she must have been. I definitely appreciate the importance of the relative clause, and how much humour it can embody. My favourite instance was the following: 'For one daughter, his eldest, he would really have given up anything, which he had not been very much tempted to do'(!) I also very much liked the comparison of Sir Walter to 'the valet of any new-made lord' - there is something funny about the fact that he is compared to the valet, rather than to the lord himself. I didn't pick up on Sir Walter's melancholy on my first read - I remarked more on his vanity. However, I did pick up on Elizabeth's pain. I really like Florian's comment about how Sir Walter's disgust at the signs of ageing in others shows his desire to freeze time. It seems like both Sir Walter and Elizabeth experience pain from certain thoughts and memories (Sir Walter doesn't like to think about time passing, his financial difficulties; for Elizabeth it's the memory of being snubbed, the knowledge that she's entering the 'years of danger'). Instead of confronting these fears, they engage in activities to stop themselves dwelling on these unwelcome thoughts. I look forward to reading further

Matthew Long

Keeping the Persuasion discussion alive over here two years after the fact! I am not sure if I am in the minority or not but I loved the opening chapter. I enjoyed Austen's writing style and found it to be poignant at times, humorous at others, and really filled with quite a lot of pain all around. Enjoyed the video as well with the historical perspectives and minutiae. Great first installment and looking forward to getting on with the rest of the chapters.