Persuasion
This edition of Persuasion comes from the elegant “English Idylls” collection of Austen’s works published by the famous turn-of-the-century publishing house of J.M. Dent. For this series, Dent commissioned his long-time illustrator Charles E. Brock to create over twenty new, delicate watercolor illustrations for each novel. Brock’s illustrations recreate the attire for men and women during that time.
Persuasion was Jane Austen’s final novel before she passed away in 1817. We can see how mature and experienced Austen was at the time of writing this novel, due to the sophistication of the character development, as well as the eloquent and conscious use of character space. In Persuasion, Austen utilizes a narrative style which provides a unique view of the emotional, psychological and gendered social use of space in the early nineteenth century. Jane Austen uses Persuasion as a commentary about social change through narrative description, as well as psychological landscape. In this last novel, Austen presents the revolutionary idea that it is the individual who holds the tools necessary to advance in society; social class, gender, and family-ties were no longer the lone arbiters of social advancement.
(Antonio Gallegos, Alexis Gonzalez)
Mansfield Park