PERSUATION

 

Persuasion is a romantic novel by Jane Austen, published posthumously in 1817. It tells the story of Anne Elliot, a young woman who her family persuades to break off her engagement with the naval officer Frederick Wentworth due to his lack of fortune and prospects. Eight years later, circumstances bring them back into each other's lives, and the story explores themes of second chances, class rigidity and social mobility, persuasion, separate spheres, marriage, and the consequences of past decisions.

Differences between the 1995 Persuasion movie and the book

Story Background

The 1995 movie Persuasion adaptation and the book have some differences. At the beginning of the movie, we need to find out the general background since we must know it by reading the book first; therefore, the background story needs to be better reflected in the film as people who have not read the textbook might not understand it initially; for example, the movie begins with Sir Walter Elliot and his daughters in his property Kellynch Hall where he starts talking with Lady Rusell about his monetary issues. Therefore, she draws up a plan for ways Sir Walter Elliot can save money; nonetheless, the book portrays straightforward the general background of the story as we know more about Sir Walter Elliot's family who lives in a peaceful England after the war. Moreover, we identify some general data about the first characters, such as a brief Sir Walter's biography settled at the beginning, and later, it introduces his daughters' names, Elizabeth, Anne, and Mary; Anne is strongly persuaded by Lady Russell about the choices she must make in her life. 

Characters' personalities

Besides, the film adaptation captures the essence of the characters’ personalities. Their interpretations are accurate according to each character, such as Elizabeth, who is vain and behaves arrogantly before others who are not of her social class; she considers herself unattainable because she is not satisfied with any of the prospects who are interested in her, while Anne is portrayed as a humble and dutiful woman who is always persuaded by everyone. In the book, characters’ personalities are described in a general way as we have to imagine how characters’ behavior develops throughout the story. To be Frank, I did not like Elizabeth's character as she looks after her father, Sir Walter Elliot, who is selfish and self-absorbed, and he judges peoples' appearance all the time because of their social status.

Visual Interpretation

The film provides a suitable visual interpretation of the characters’ costumes and the story's atmosphere. It also gives us additional visual elements, such as home details concordant with the social status’s family while the book does not provide a detailed description in regards to characters’ costumes and visual interpretation of different scenarios where situations take place. 

Character omission

Furthermore, the film omits a minor character, Mrs. Clay, a widow who becomes a close companion of Sir Walter Elliot, the father of the protagonist Anne Elliot. Also, Mrs. Clay is introduced in the book as a woman of attractive appearance and gentle manners. In contrast, the book tells us all the characters' names and their relationship with each other, even though some of them are secondary characters like Mrs. Clay, Lady Dalrymple, and Miss Carteret.