To make Persuasion a plausible story you may have to change the
attitudes of the characters a bit. Although they are realistic characters who represent a reality
of the time (the need to keep up with appearances, distinction of rank, and vanity of
possessions), they seem to be too black and white to be as real as they can be. The characters
seem to be "sold out" to their characteristics and appear rather
inflexible.
Even Anne is much too stoic for my taste. All of us have
a breaking point. No matter how strong and independent Anne is, I have a hard time thinking that
she was no less than devastated when she realized the mistake she made when she lost Wentworth
and when the family came to ruin. Especially a woman of her rank and with a need to marry in that
type of society.
Hence, the characters, not so much the situations
is what make the story a bit on the totally fictional side, and prompts us to realize that Austen
made full use of her creative license to come up with these ideas.
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