Time and Bloom: The ‘Winter’ of Elizabeth’s Life Perpetuated by Title and Superficiality Jack Duckett 12th Grade

In elucidating a strong sense of time’s passing in ‘Persuasion’, Austen evokes the seething pain and angst that Elizabeth’s approach to ‘the years of danger’ affords in an era in which marriage and status were ultimately keystones of a successful life, and explores the oversights of the superficial group which Sir Walter and Elizabeth both pertain and aspire to, by showcasing Elizabeth’s successive failures to be ‘properly solicited by baronet blood’ despite her ability to remain ‘blooming’. An overarching idea of the novel is that marriage and happiness do not necessarily depend on shallow appearances or any specific, practical merits, but rather an indescribable connection which is anything but rational and considered.

As Sir Walter indulgently pontificates over his and Elizabeth’s resistance to becoming a part of the ‘wreck of the good looks of everybody else’, Elizabeth and her bloom are separated by a metaphorical chasm from the ‘coarse’ Mary and the ‘haggard’ Anne whose blunt physical descriptions evoke a sense of disappointment on Sir Walter’s behalf, emphasizing the vanity that underpins his character, as his reluctance to associate with even his own daughters who do not mirror his own aesthetic values is showcased. Sir...