Anne Elliot - an unreliable narrator?

[kev67]

It seems so to me Anne Elliot is determined to think the best of Captain Wentworth, when he was arguably mean to her on at least four occasions. She is not as forgiving to her cousin, Mr Elliot, although his behaviour is at least as good as Wentworth's. Sunday travelling is not a very great sin. As a captain of a warship, Captain Wentworth must have done much worse. (BTW Captain Bentwick does not seem tough enough to be a captain of a warship, but Jane Austen should know). Another thing is that Anne Elliott does not seem very charitable to Mrs Clay, a widow. So what if Mrs Clay wants to marry Anne's father? Why shouldn't her father re-marry?

[Gladys]

It seems so to me Anne Elliot is determined to think the best of Captain Wentworth, when he was arguably mean to her on at least four occasions. She is not as forgiving to her cousin, Mr Elliot, although his behaviour is at least as good as Wentworth's. Sunday travelling is not a very great sin. As a captain of a warship, Captain Wentworth must have done much worse. (BTW Captain Bentwick does not seem tough enough to be a captain of a warship, but Jane Austen should know). Another thing is that Anne Elliott does not seem very charitable to Mrs Clay, a widow. So what if Mrs Clay wants to marry Anne's father? Why shouldn't her father re-marry?

Since I read the wonderful Persuasion decades ago, this response is speculative.

God is love and love, in this sense, is Anne's "God". She forgives.

Sunday is God's day and, in travelling on the Sabbath, Mr Elliot willfully sins against Love, no small sin. Times have changed. She has, of course, no moral responsibility for what captains may do in her absence.

As for Mrs Clay and her father, why is love for a bereaved partner so fickle, when Anne's love manifestly endures? She is not exactly impartial here.

[prendrelemick]

Of course, Anne Elliot loves Captain Wentworth, regrets not marrying him and knows she wronged him all those years ago. That gives him all the advantage over Mr Elliot.

The Mrs Clay situation is probably partly to do with that old issue of class. Austen has knowingly piled irony upon irony in the different attitudes adopted for the different relationships between characters.

[kev67]

SPOILERS
Turns out Anne was right with everything. Mr Elliot was discovered to be a rotter, and Mrs Clay, a gold digger. All Wentworth's curious behaviour was caused in part by his hurt feelings, hmm. Nearly everyone who deserved to get married got married - yay. I wonder what will happen to Anne's eldest sister, Elizabeth. She does not actually appear interested in getting married. I hope Sir Elliott provides for her in his will. I thought it was ironic that Mrs Smith's (Anne's old school friend who fell on hard times) repaired fortunes depend on ascertaining the legal rights of a business venture in the West Indies, which must be mixed up with slavery.