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Deep Analysis of Persuasion: When Pain Is Over (Ch. XX - XXIV) (Patreon)

Published:

2021-06-30 15:00:09

Imported:

2026-06

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Content

The final four chapters of Persuasion unlock the power of the entire novel and help one relish a sustained rereading.

Personally, this is the novel that speaks most powerfully to me in my current clime of life.

So let's mine the ending together.

We're talking about Jane Austen's real-life love affairs and heartbreaks, self-talk and Shakespeareanism, and which sex is more constant in love - men or women?

Video Timestamps:

0:00 the final four chapters of Persuasion
2:00 the lived love experience of Jane Austen
2:30 how does Austen write so persuasively about love?
3:00 Austen’s own romantic experiences
3:15 was Jane Austen a lesbian?
4:00 was literature Austen’s real mistress?
5:00 Jane Austen and Tom Lefroy
6:00 Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy as Austen and Lefroy?
7:00 Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth as Austen and Leroy?
8:00 culture shifting, marriage, and money
9:00 Austen’s correspondence about flirtations with her “Irish friend”
11:00 Jane Austen’s real life heartbreak
14:00 vicarious experience as real living
15:00 the nature of proof and the truth of imaginative literature
15:50 “when pain is over, the remembrance of it often becomes a pleasure”
17:00 first readings vs rereadings
20:00 private vs public space in Austen’s world
21:00 change and feeling remaining unchanged
22:00 the payoff of Persuasion and the original ending of the novel
23:00 why Persuasion is like life
24:00 why the characters of Persuasion are poor mind-readers
24:40 Mrs Smith’s attempts to persuade Anne Elliot
25:30 Jane Austen’s Shakespeareanism
26:00 the nature of long, uncertain engagements
28:00 layers upon layers of ulterior motives
30:00 the dance of decorum and speaking directly in Austen’s universe
31:00 “Do you claim that for your sex?”
31:30 “We certainly do not forget you as soon as your forget us.”
32:00 how to learn to talk to others and yourself from books
33:00 how men and women love differently
34:00 one of the best speeches in the history of Women’s Literature
34:50 A Shakespearean battle of the sexes
36:50 “Men have had every advantage of us in telling their own story”
37:10 “I will not allow books to prove anything”
38:00 women striving to tell their stories, not in the language of men
39:30 how Austen puts her own feelings into the masculine voices
42:00 “All the privilege I claim for my own sex”
43:30 “loving longest, when existence or when hope is gone”
44:00 when words fail us
44:40 “when I think of Benwick, my tongue is tied”
45:00 Wentworth’s letter to Anne Elliot
48:30 the benefit of long engagements
54:00 did Anne regret being persuaded?
54:30 the ending of Persuasion
57:20 how would you rank Persuasion?
57:30 what to do when you finish a novel

Thank goodness Austen rewrote the final two chapters, because I find them powerful and persuasive, and they go some way to healing the gap between men and women.

The long engagement of Anne and Wentworth is at its climax, and yet the novel feels like life itself - simmering melancholy and remembrance with a cymbal clash of good fortune, which then announces the next difficult adventure.

How did you respond to Persuasion?

Now that pain is over, do you find the remembrance of it to be a pleasure?

Please share your impressions!

Files

Previews only

Deep Analysis of Persuasion: When Pain Is Over (Ch. XX - XXIV)

0:00 the final four chapters of Persuasion 2:00 the lived love experience of Jane Austen 2:30 how does Austen write so persuasively about love? 3:00 Austen’s own romantic experiences 3:15 was Jane Austen a lesbian? 4:00 was literature Austen’s real mistress? 5:00 Jane Austen and Tom Lefroy 6:00 Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy as Austen and Lefroy? 7:00 Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth as Austen and Leroy? 8:00 culture shifting, marriage, and money 9:00 Austen’s correspondence about flirtations with her “Irish friend” 11:00 Jane Austen’s real life heartbreak 14:00 vicarious experience as real living 15:00 the nature of proof and the truth of imaginative literature 15:50 “when pain is over, the remembrance of it often becomes a pleasure” 17:00 first readings vs rereadings 20:00 private vs public space in Austen’s world 21:00 change and feeling remaining unchanged 22:00 the payoff of Persuasion and the original ending of the novel 23:00 why Persuasion is like life 24:00 why the characters of Persuasion are poor mind-readers 24:40 Mrs Smith’s attempts to persuade Anne Elliot 25:30 Jane Austen’s Shakespeareanism 26:00 the nature of long, uncertain engagements 28:00 layers upon layers of ulterior motives 30:00 the dance of decorum and speaking directly in Austen’s universe 31:00 “Do you claim that for your sex?” 31:30 “We certainly do not forget you as soon as your forget us.” 32:00 how to learn to talk to others and yourself from books 33:00 how men and women love differently 34:00 one of the best speeches in the history of Women’s Literature 34:50 A Shakespearean battle of the sexes 36:50 “Men have had every advantage of us in telling their own story” 37:10 “I will not allow books to prove anything” 38:00 women striving to tell their stories, not in the language of men 39:30 how Austen puts her own feelings into the masculine voices 42:00 “All the privilege I claim for my own sex” 43:30 “loving longest, when existence or when hope is gone” 44:00 when words fail us 44:40 “when I think of Benwick, my tongue is tied” 45:00 Wentworth’s letter to Anne Elliot 48:30 the benefit of long engagements 54:00 did Anne regret being persuaded? 54:30 the ending of Persuasion 57:20 how would you rank Persuasion? 57:30 what to do when you finish a novel