Persuasion (1818), Jane Austen’s final completed novel, is generally considered her most subtle and mature work. As a young woman, Anne Elliott fell in love with a captain in the Royal Navy but, taking the advice of her family, ended their engagement—and long regretted it. When she meets Captain Wentworth again years later, their circumstances have changed dramatically. Will their renewed relationship help Anne resolve her feelings or only make them stronger?

Fellows in this seminar will discuss Austen’s depiction of the competing loyalties to family and self; the tension between a fading aristocracy and a burgeoning meritocracy; the power of memory and the passage of time; the traits of true friendship; and much more. A close study of Persuasion, which Harold Bloom called a “perfect novel,” is a perfect way to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Austen’s birth.

Image: James Hook A Regency Pair: Man with Walking Stick, 1802

Dr. Scalia on the novel & democracy

Faculty

Christopher Scalia

Christopher J. Scalia is a senior fellow in the Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies department at the American Enterprise Institute, where he focuses on literature, culture, and higher education. Prior to his role at AEI, Dr. Scalia was an English professor with a specialty in 18th-century and early 19th-century British literature.

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