“Anne was obliged to turn away, to rise, to walk to a distant table, and, leaning there in pretended employment, try to subdue the feelings this picture excited. For a few moments her imagination and her heart were bewitched. The idea of becoming what her mother had been; of having the precious name of ‘Lady Elliot’ first revived in herself; of being restored to Kellynich, calling it her home again, her home for ever, was a charm which she could not immediately resist. Lady Russell said not another word, willing to leave the matter to its own operation; and believing that, could Mr. Elliot at that moment with propriety have spoken for himself!—she believed, in short, what Anne did not believe. The same image of Mr. Elliot speaking for himself brought Anne to composure again. The charm of Kellynch and of ‘Lady Elliot’ all faded away. She never could accept him. And it was not only that her feelings were still adverse to any man save one; her judgement, on a serious consideration of the possibilities of such a case, was against Mr. Elliot.”
To portray Anne temporarily “bewitched” by the advantages of her marriage to Mr. Elliot, the second sentence of the paragraph above describes Anne’s thoughts with what seems to be free indirect discourse. That this long second sentence of the paragraph is in free indirect discourse is evident from how the main persuasive points separated by semicolons, “becoming what her mother had been,” “having the previous name of ‘Lady Elliot’ first revived in herself,” and “being restored to Kellynch,” closely match the personally appealing advantages of marrying Mr. Elliot to Anne that Lady Russell has just enumerated before her. The effect of this close match is that the sentence seems to be directly quoting Anne’s repetition of the persuasive points of Lady Russell’s words, rather than just telling a summary of what goes through Anne’s mind.
The sentence’s punctuation also contributes to the sense that the novel is using free indirect discourse to reveal Anne’s perspective. Each of the sections in this sentence separated by semicolons is actually complete thoughts that could stand on their own as sentences ending in periods. While the use of periods would result in a more rigid and definite pause at the end of each complete thought, the semicolons have the opposite of that effect. Following each semicolon, instead of stopping, Anne’s thoughts seem to flow continuously onwards without any long pauses. Reading this sentence with semicolons imitates Anne’s thoughts, in this moment, streaming over her for a not inconsiderable amount of time, as suggested by the lengthy nature of the sentence. The punctuation tries to realistically imitate Anne’s mind that is busy at work, rapidly reiterating the tempting parts of Lady Russell’s words and letting them temporarily have a strong hold consciousness. The punctuation creates the flowing thoughts indicative of bewitchment and is further evidence of Anne’s overwhelming, bewitched thoughts revealed through free indirect discourse.
Nonetheless, though the description of Anne’s thoughts read like free indirect discourse, the narration attaches third person pronouns to these thoughts. These third person pronouns, “her,” “herself,” and “she,” suggest the continued presence of a third person narrator operating more objectively outside of a character’s mind. Though Anne’s thoughts may be coursing through her powerfully, the presence of the third person pronouns suggests that her thoughts have not completely overwhelmed her. Free indirect discourse has not necessarily completely taken over. The objectivity and perhaps greater rationality of a third person narrator still exists within Anne. The emotional persuasiveness of her thoughts has not entirely taken over and appeared as pure, emotionally-appealing thought by completely, more undeniably becoming free indirect discourse. Anne is only temporarily “bewitched.” Though she may “not immediately resist” a tempting marriage to Mr. Elliot, she will eventually regain her reason and judge against it: “The charm of Kellynch and of ‘Lady Elliot’ all faded away. She could never accept him.”
Somewhat suddenly, Lady Russell’s perspective intrudes upon Anne’s thoughts. The inserted sentence beginning with “Lady Russell said not another word” eventually becomes free indirect discourse, especially with the mental exclamation, “could Mr. Elliot at that moment with propriety have spoken for himself!” The exclamation point suggests the retreat of a more objective, third-person narrator. What replaces it is free indirect discourse of Lady Russell’s subjective, excited thoughts on Mr. Elliot proposing to Anne. Unlike Anne’s thoughts, Lady Russell’s free indirect speech completely lacks pronouns. In Lady Russell’s perspective, there is no hint of a more reasoning and objective third person narrator, marked by the appearance of pronouns that would make her perspective less clearly free indirect discourse. While Anne’s thoughts retain some semblance of rationality through the presence of third person pronouns, Lady Russell’s own thoughts completely overwhelm her and wash away any sense of a more rational, clear-minded third person narrator. She is left completely in awe of Mr. Elliot potentially proposing to Anne.
An odd aspect of the narration is the somewhat abrupt changes in point of view. Anne is so involved in and temporarily “bewitched” by her own thoughts that the aforementioned shift to Lady Russell’s perspective feels a bit out of place. One explanation is that the sudden shift is there to imitate Lady Russell’s persuasions powerfully pushing away, though only for a few moments, Anne’s own judgements against Mr. Elliot. A shift back to Anne’s perspective occurs soon after Lady Russell’s free indirect discourse. The em dash that occurs after it signals the jump from Lady Russell’s mind back into Anne’s mind, in which Anne denies Lady Russell’s esteem towards Mr. Elliot: “she believed, in short, what Anne did not believe.” One potential reason for this quick shift back is to suggest how quickly Anne can regain control of her own thoughts and judgements against another perspective that has intruded into a paragraph largely focused on her own. Lady Russell’s overwhelming excitement can only temporarily burst through for a single sentence, before the focus jumps back to Anne and her own, steady determinations. This passage also demonstrates the powerful ability Persuasion’s narrator has to quickly and almost simultaneously access the thoughts, often written in a combination of free indirect discourse and third person, of different characters. Even within a relatively short paragraph, such as this passage, the narrator can peer into the minds of two different characters. For example, the narrator knows that Anne and Lady Russell are both responding to “The same image of Mr. Elliot.” The narrator delving into both Anne’s and Lady Russell’s thoughts and highlighting the “same image” they are responding perhaps further draws comparison between the difference of their responses to that image. While Lady Russell wholeheartedly embraces it, Anne strongly rejects it with the impactful determination, “She never could accept him.” The relatively longer sentences surrounding this shorter assertion give it a particularly strong and emphatic impression, as though Anne has solidly put her foot down and will not budge. In spite of her bewitchment from Lady Russell’s persuasion and the persuasion of Mr. Elliot himself that captures even Lady Russell’s mind, Anne’s rationality has broken through and she will not go against the reasoned determination she made against Mr. Elliot before.
Isabella Zhou 
Leave a comment