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Persuasion
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Symbols & Motifs
Kellynch Hall
As the ancestral seat of the Elliot family, Kellynch Hall is an extensive and expensive home with a long line of barons associated with its keeping. With Sir Walter’s poor financial management frequently compared to the wealth (without distinctive birth) of navy officers, Kellynch Hall stands in as a symbol of the changing order of society. Men who have inherited wealth without working, such as Sir Walter, struggle to keep up with the economic demands of their class.
That Sir Walter rents Kellynch Hall precisely to a family whose wealth comes from a military career underscores its use as a symbol. When the Crofts move in to the home, they represent the metaphorical “moving in” of a class of people whose wealth is unassociated with their birth; Sir Walter, Elizabeth, and Lady Russell in particular must come to terms with the changing order of society in order to maintain what they deem as suitable acquaintances. Later, even Anne is tempted to fill her mother’s role as the Lady of Kellynch Hall through marriage to Mr. Elliot. However, Anne’s compassion and humility allow her to welcome the Crofts and prioritize her own happiness in marriage over the social significance of occupying her ancestral home.
Walking
Walking is a regular motif in many Austen novels (as well as other novels from this time period). The ability to take leisurely walks around extensive grounds signals that the characters involved do not work, have money to upkeep the grounds, and have the time to seek exercise. Many of the greater moments of the novel occur either during or directly following a walk: Anne overhearing Louisa and Wentworth talk of firmness of character, Henrietta and Charles Hayter’s reconciliation, Louisa’s fall, and Anne and Wentworth’s discussion of their love and relationship.
Walking allows the characters to move throughout their surroundings when car, train, and other modes of transportation are not available to them. That walking is often linked with large plot developments signals the need for these characters to have a space outside of the formality found within drawing rooms to interact honestly with one another. Walking allows for privacy without transgressing against propriety.
Marriage
As is common with novels that center around a marriage plot, there are several marriages in this novel that act as symbols for the ideologies Austen discusses. Constancy being a major theme in Persuasion, the marriages of Henrietta to Charles Hayter and Louisa to Benwick offer opposite views on the subject. Henrietta and Hayter display a final constancy, even though there was briefly a threat from Captain Wentworth's interest in Henrietta. Their marriage foreshadows Anne and Wentworth’s own union, as both take similar courses toward reconciliation.
Conversely, the marriage of Benwick and Louisa is a shock to many of the novel’s characters. Captain Harville discusses at length the seeming lack of constancy in Benwick’s character as Benwick’s fiancé is still recently deceased. Wentworth expresses similar notions, that a man truly in love is not so easily distracted with another woman, which largely signals to Anne that he may still be in love with her.
As marriage serves an important economic and social function in society as portrayed in the novel, it is imperative that both genders make well-informed matches. In addition to the theme of constancy, the marriages—or threats of marriage—in the novel serve to comment on the economics of middle-class households, in particular the financial dependency of women. Each woman strives for marriage in this book, with many (Mrs. Clay foremost) motivated by a desire for a secure financial future.
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