Deep Analysis of Persuasion: The Singularity of Suffering (Ch. I - IV) (Patreon)

Persuasion might feel slow to get started, but those first four chapters contain the keys to understanding and appreciating Austen.

You can see Austen's art of the incidental description (Proust, similarly, is a master of the relative clause), negative character description (evoking character by virtue of what's left out), irony, and an all-pervasive sense of mortality. 

Video Timestamps:

• 0:00 have you felt the pain of persuasion?
• 2:30 "Nobody can give you advice" (Rilke)
• 7:30 a daily self-love reflection practice 
• 16:00 the excellent judgement of Lady Russell
• 19:00 how to read Austen (and Proust)
• 24:00 the singularity of suffering 
• 26:00 what is character?
• 29:00 social proof 
• 31:00 "Kellynch Hall was to be let"
• 41:00 Anne as sailor's wife 
• 43:00 the binaries of Persuasion

Questions to ponder:

1) How does Austen's introduction of characters compare with other writers? Do you believe her characters? Does she do anything different from, say, Tolstoy or Dostoyevsky?

2) Have you benefitted from good counsel? What about bad counsel? Have you ever been persuaded to do something that was not in your best interests? How did that go?

Of course, let us know any other thoughts that strike you as you read or reread through.

Happy reading!