The West Indies Campaign of 1804–10 was a series of military contests mainly in the Caribbean, spanning the Napoleonic Wars, involving the European powers of Napoleonic France, the Batavian Republic, Spain, the Kingdom of Portugal, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. French naval power after Trafalgar in 1805 was weak. The big …
Tag: Persuasion
Persuasion 200: An engagement, and two hearts, broken
Anne has been convinced by her family and Lady Russell that it would be foolish to marry Commander Wentworth. No matter how much she loves him, he is not established in his career and has only his naval pay and a little prize money to support her and any children they have. She has broken …
Persuasion 200: Anne Breaks off the Engagement
You knew it was coming, and yet perhaps you hoped there was a way it could be avoided. It would be tempting to rewrite history in order to spare our hero and heroine the pain that lies ahead. But, since we all promised to abide by the facts of Jane Austen’s story… Anne did not abandon …
Persuasion 200: Anne’s Internal Debate
When Captain Frederick Wentworth proposed, Anne Elliot was over the moon with delight. However, her high spirits were surely crushed to discover that not only did her father think him an unworthy attachment, but so too did Lady Russell! Her inner turmoil must have been considerable in deciding how best to proceed. Here is my attempt to …
Persuasion 200: Lady Russell Decides to Persuade Anne to Break Engagement
In the absence of Lady Elliot, Lady Russell takes it upon herself to advise Anne on her engagement. But first she must come to terms with her advice herself. Lady Russell dismissed her maid and sank down on the chair at her dressing table. Another curl, another tuck, none of it would make her feel …
Persuasion 200: Wentworth and Anne Talk about the Future
Anne Elliot has become engaged to Commander Frederick Wentworth. He just finished a gruelling interview with her father as he applied for her hand, which is briefly covered in Chapter 4 of Persuasion. As this segment begins, Anne is anxiously waiting for him to return to her to find out whether her father has given …
Persuasion 200: Wentworth Applies to Sir Walter
Anne Elliot and Commander Frederick Wentworth met and fell in love eight years before the story of Persuasion begins. He has asked for her hand and she has accepted. In this scene, he goes to apply to her father to obtain his consent. The events are briefly referenced in Chapter 4. Anne waited in the …
Persuasion 200: The Initial Proposal
For whatever reason, Jane Austen tells us very little of the initial courtship of Anne Elliot and Frederick Wentworth. We’re told even less about the actual proposal. She only says in chapter four, “It would be difficult to say which had seen the highest perfection in the other, or which had been the happiest; …
Persuasion 200: The Courtship of Wentworth and Anne by Jane Odiwe
In the summer of 1806, Anne Elliot and Commander Wentworth are thrown together. He was, at that time, a remarkably fine young man, with a great deal of intelligence, spirit and brilliancy; and Anne an extremely pretty girl, with gentleness, modesty, taste, and feeling. Half the sum of attraction, on either side, might have been …
Persuasion 200: First Meeting Between Wentworth and Anne
Frederick Wentworth was visiting his brother, a curate in Monkford, a parish near Kellynch Hall, when he was onshore between assignments in the Royal Navy when he met Anne Elliot, the daughter of Sir Walter Elliot, baronet. __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ “Are you sure you don’t want to go to the Winterthorpe’s dinner, Frederick?” Edward Wentworth checked …
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