Why was Mary jealous that Anne was mistress of a landaulette? What even is a landaulette? Was Captain Wentworth likely to fight in a future war? Find out the answers to these questions and more, in this episode of My Cousin Jane.
Welcome back to My Cousin Jane. Today we’re going to be talking about Persuasion, Volume 2, Chapter 12, also known as Chapter 24.
Today in our season finale, our last show of Season 1, we’re going to be talking about the final chapter of Persuasion, and in this chapter we have a conditional “happily ever after” between Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth, and we’ll talk about what that means later on.
Lady Russell’s Interference
I want to start today by listening to two different clips, one from the start of this chapter and one from near the end of the previous chapter. Both of them tackle the same question, or address it from two different points of view.
That question is, was Lady Russell justified in her interference with Captain Wentworth and Anne Elliot during the initial marriage proposal? Was Anne justified in listening to Lady Russell’s advice?
As always, our clips come courtesy of the talented Karen Savage and LibriVox.org. Here is the clip from this chapter, Lady Russell’s point of view.
The only one among them, whose opposition of feeling could excite any serious anxiety was Lady Russell. Anne knew that Lady Russell must be suffering some pain in understanding and relinquishing Mr Elliot, and be making some struggles to become truly acquainted with, and do justice to Captain Wentworth. This however was what Lady Russell had now to do. She must learn to feel that she had been mistaken with regard to both; that she had been unfairly influenced by appearances in each; that because Captain Wentworth’s manners had not suited her own ideas, she had been too quick in suspecting them to indicate a character of dangerous impetuosity; and that because Mr Elliot’s manners had precisely pleased her in their propriety and correctness, their general politeness and suavity, she had been too quick in receiving them as the certain result of the most correct opinions and well-regulated mind. There was nothing less for Lady Russell to do, than to admit that she had been pretty completely wrong, and to take up a new set of opinions and of hopes. Persuasion, Chapter 24
Here are Anne’s thoughts on the matter.
“I have been thinking over the past, and trying impartially to judge of the right and wrong, I mean with regard to myself; and I must believe that I was right, much as I suffered from it, that I was perfectly right in being guided by the friend whom you will love better than you do now. To me, she was in the place of a parent. Do not mistake me, however. I am not saying that she did not err in her advice. It was, perhaps, one of those cases in which advice is good or bad only as the event decides; and for myself, I certainly never should, in any circumstance of tolerable similarity, give such advice. But I mean, that I was right in submitting to her, and that if I had done otherwise, I should have suffered more in continuing the engagement than I did even in giving it up, because I should have suffered in my conscience. I have now, as far as such a sentiment is allowable in human nature, nothing to reproach myself with; and if I mistake not, a strong sense of duty is no bad part of a woman’s portion.” Persuasion, Chapter 23
Lady Russell, looking back in hindsight, admits that she was wrong about Captain Wentworth, or at least wrong about his manners and her opinions of him. She doesn’t talk about whether she thinks she was wrong about the advice she gave to Anne as to the prudence of the match.
Anne excuses her interference, saying that while Lady Russell’s advice happened to turn out wrong, it wasn’t necessarily wrong in itself, or wrong for her to give the advice, nor does she believe it was wrong for her to submit to it. However, she also says she would not give that kind of advice to other people.
Landaulette
Speaking of opinions on the marriage, Mary’s is also interesting, and very much in line with the rest of her character.
She had something to suffer, perhaps, when they came into contact again, in seeing Anne restored to the rights of seniority, and the mistress of a very pretty landaulette; but she had a future to look forward to, of powerful consolation. Anne had no Uppercross Hall before her, no landed estate, no headship of a family; and if they could but keep Captain Wentworth from being made a baronet, she would not change situations with Anne. Persuasion, Chapter 24
Let’s talk a minute about the “very pretty” landaulette that Anne finds herself mistress of. At first, it sounds like it might mean a small bit of land or a small estate, but the context of the next sentence tells us that this isn’t the case. Anne has no Uppercross Hall or landed estate to look forward to.
The landaulette, in fact, is a fancy type of carriage. Back in episode 12, we discussed the most common types of vehicles used in Regency times. The landau was a four-wheeled carriage with a convertible top that could be folded down in two sections, one towards the front and one towards the back. It was considered a luxury vehicle that could be pulled by either two or four horses, and where the people riding in the carriage would sit facing one another.
These carriages got their name from the fact that at the time, most of them were imported from the German city of Landau. They weren’t manufactured widely in England until the 1830s.
The landaulette was a smaller, sleeker version of the landau that fit only two passengers. In later years, the name landaulette came to mean any vehicle where the driver was separated from the passengers, and the passenger section had a removable or collapsible top. There are several car manufacturers that have built cars with that model.
The famous and modern landaulette is the Lexus LS 600, which was used as the main vehicle in the 2011 wedding of the Prince of Monaco.
Flattery
I also like this quote about Sir Walter and Elizabeth’s relationship with their famous relatives that we have at the end here of Chapter 24.
They had their great cousins, to be sure, to resort to for comfort; but they must long feel that to flatter and follow others, without being flattered and followed in turn, is but a state of half enjoyment. Persuasion, Chapter 24
If you think of Sir Walter’s relationship with the Dalrymples in terms of social media, you can see that not much has changed about that particular aspect of human nature since Regency times.
Dread of Future War
At the end of the final chapter, Austen adds a little caveat about Captain Wentworth’s and Anne Elliot’s happiness, noting that it was marred a bit by the dread of future wars, and what that might mean for Captain Wentworth.
Fortunately for Anne and Captain Wentworth, the Napoleonic Wars end right at the start of the novel, and the British Navy saw relatively little action after that until right around the start of World War I. That’s mostly because no other power in Europe had a naval force that had any hope of standing against the Royal Navy. They were just that good.
Season 2
That wraps up our discussion of Persuasion, which is my personal favorite of the Austen books. I think one thing that sets Persuasion apart from many of Austen’s other books, and the romance genre in general, is that Anne and Captain Wentworth are both older, with Anne even being described as being past her bloom, a concept we discussed back in episode 16.
One of the appealing things about this novel is that it’s a story of second chances, not only of Captain Wentworth and Anne, but also in the story of Captain Benwick and Louisa Musgrove. It’s a story that gives hope to anyone who has loved and lost, and wonders if they will ever have the chance to love again.
Next season we’ll be delving into what is arguably Austen’s most popular book, Pride and Prejudice. Be sure to stay tuned for that.
Conclusion
That wraps up this episode of My Cousin Jane. As always, if you enjoy the show and would like to help support us, please consider clicking the little donate button or subscribing to our newsletter. Either way, thanks so much for listening.
