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At the beginning of the story， twenty-eight-year-old Anne Eliot， the heroin of Jane Austen’s last work Persuasion， was still haunted by the hurt from the broken-up which was persuaded eight yeas ago by Lady Russel， her best friend and god mother. Her beloved Frederic Wentworth was an energetic naval officer but without alliance or fortune， with “nothing but himself to recommend him， and no hopes of attaining affluence”（25）. It was believed a poor match for Annewith all her claims of birth， beauty， and mind. Heart-broken and angry， Wentworth went to sea. Such a sad love story gives readers an illusion that Anne was too gentle， yielding， indecisive and weak-minded to resist being persuaded to break up with whom she loved so much. Also， Wentworth viewed Anne’s persuadability as a weakness in her character， for eight years later when Wentworth came back， successful and reputable， in research of a wife， he declared that his only criteria for a wife were “a strong mind，with sweetness of manner”（60） and Anne was not among the eligible. But Jane Austen complexed our understanding of persuadability with many contrasts and comparisons.
After Wentworth returned from the sea， he flirted with Louisa， the sister-in-law of Mary， Anne’s little sister and a firm， decided， and resolute girl. As a contrast in character with Anne， Louisa declared that she would not turn back from doing a thing that she had determined. When her elder sister Henrietta was nearly persuaded by Mary to give up their planned visiting for their cousin， she said to Wentworth，“I have no idea of being so easily persuaded. When I have made up my mind， I have made it”（86）. Wentworth expressed high appreciation with her in that point， acclaiming that she has“the character of decision and firmness”. But this firmness turned out to be disastrous for her. At Lyme， Luisa decided to jump down steps for fun in spite of Wentworth’s persuasion and warning. She said，“I am determined， I will”（109）.Unfortunately， Wentworth failed to catch her; she suffered lasting injuries， and he is tormented by guilt.After recovery from the fall， Louisa surprisingly changed：“there is no running or jumping about， no laughing or dancing; it is quite different. If one happens only to shut the door a little hard， she starts and wriggles like a young dab-chick in the water”（218-219）.
This is also true with the case of Wentworth. As the epitome of firmness and self-determination， he was angry with Anne’s rejection and her yielding character， which appealed him to run after Louisa who shared the same temper with him and blinded his feelings to Anne. As he felt honor-bound to marry Louisa after his flirtations with her and her accidental fall， he realized he was still in love with Anne. The great irony was that such a determined man as Wentworth would left the injured Louisa and his beloved Anne for his brother’s place and let events decided his marital fate when he felt trapped and lost the freedom to act. Even when he heard that Louisa was engaged with Benwick， which meant that he was free to act， to show his love for Anne， he hesitated for fear of rejection. It was Anne who acting as persuader， led him to believeher love for him and to pour out his feelings for her. It is may be not convincing that Anne would have suffered great fall like Louisa， had she accepted the Wentworth’s original marriage proposal， for they may lead a happy life， be they ever so poor， or ever so imprudent. And it turned out that Lady Russell's initial act of persuasion was wrong， for Anne could not forget Wentworth and he returned an esteemed man with a fortune.Anne admitted that Lady Russel was wrong in her advice， that she shall not give such advice in similar circumstance. But she was not regret being submissive to Lady Russel， because she wanted to maintain the friendship with her and she understood that persuasion is not judged by its result but by the intention of the persuader. Besides， Anne refused the original proposal for the sake of Wentworth for if she had married him， her father would not give her any dowry， then she would be a burden to him. “Had she not imagined herself consulting his good， she could hardly have given him up”（26）. Here， Anne’s self-interest gave way toher wish to preserve Lady Russell's friendshipand her concern for Wentworth's own well-being. Her persuadability was not at all a selfish caution or a weakness in character.
Austen’s Persuasion highlights the importance of being persuadable through comparing and contrasting the result of persuadability and that of firmness， which implies that openness to persuadability is not necessarily the sign of weakness in character but the sign of a prudent attitude toward lifeand an affectionate heart to the concerns of others. Correspondingly， unpersuadability is not always indicative of a strength of reason and resolution but perhaps of selfish， vaunted temper.
Works Cited：
[1]Austen， Jane. Persuasion. London： the Penguin Group， 1994.
[2]Lorri G. Nandrea. Difference and Repetition in Austen’s Persuasion.JSTOR .2007.
[3]Arthur E. Walzer. Rhetoric and Gender in Jane Austen's Persuasion. JSTOR.Oct.1995.
[4]Joseph M. Duffy， Jr.Structure and Idea in Jane Austen's "Persuasion".JSTOR.Mar. 1954.
[5]Robert Hopkins. Moral Luck and Judgment in Jane Austen's Persuasion. JSTOR.Sep.1987.
After Wentworth returned from the sea， he flirted with Louisa， the sister-in-law of Mary， Anne’s little sister and a firm， decided， and resolute girl. As a contrast in character with Anne， Louisa declared that she would not turn back from doing a thing that she had determined. When her elder sister Henrietta was nearly persuaded by Mary to give up their planned visiting for their cousin， she said to Wentworth，“I have no idea of being so easily persuaded. When I have made up my mind， I have made it”（86）. Wentworth expressed high appreciation with her in that point， acclaiming that she has“the character of decision and firmness”. But this firmness turned out to be disastrous for her. At Lyme， Luisa decided to jump down steps for fun in spite of Wentworth’s persuasion and warning. She said，“I am determined， I will”（109）.Unfortunately， Wentworth failed to catch her; she suffered lasting injuries， and he is tormented by guilt.After recovery from the fall， Louisa surprisingly changed：“there is no running or jumping about， no laughing or dancing; it is quite different. If one happens only to shut the door a little hard， she starts and wriggles like a young dab-chick in the water”（218-219）.
This is also true with the case of Wentworth. As the epitome of firmness and self-determination， he was angry with Anne’s rejection and her yielding character， which appealed him to run after Louisa who shared the same temper with him and blinded his feelings to Anne. As he felt honor-bound to marry Louisa after his flirtations with her and her accidental fall， he realized he was still in love with Anne. The great irony was that such a determined man as Wentworth would left the injured Louisa and his beloved Anne for his brother’s place and let events decided his marital fate when he felt trapped and lost the freedom to act. Even when he heard that Louisa was engaged with Benwick， which meant that he was free to act， to show his love for Anne， he hesitated for fear of rejection. It was Anne who acting as persuader， led him to believeher love for him and to pour out his feelings for her. It is may be not convincing that Anne would have suffered great fall like Louisa， had she accepted the Wentworth’s original marriage proposal， for they may lead a happy life， be they ever so poor， or ever so imprudent. And it turned out that Lady Russell's initial act of persuasion was wrong， for Anne could not forget Wentworth and he returned an esteemed man with a fortune.Anne admitted that Lady Russel was wrong in her advice， that she shall not give such advice in similar circumstance. But she was not regret being submissive to Lady Russel， because she wanted to maintain the friendship with her and she understood that persuasion is not judged by its result but by the intention of the persuader. Besides， Anne refused the original proposal for the sake of Wentworth for if she had married him， her father would not give her any dowry， then she would be a burden to him. “Had she not imagined herself consulting his good， she could hardly have given him up”（26）. Here， Anne’s self-interest gave way toher wish to preserve Lady Russell's friendshipand her concern for Wentworth's own well-being. Her persuadability was not at all a selfish caution or a weakness in character.
Austen’s Persuasion highlights the importance of being persuadable through comparing and contrasting the result of persuadability and that of firmness， which implies that openness to persuadability is not necessarily the sign of weakness in character but the sign of a prudent attitude toward lifeand an affectionate heart to the concerns of others. Correspondingly， unpersuadability is not always indicative of a strength of reason and resolution but perhaps of selfish， vaunted temper.
Works Cited：
[1]Austen， Jane. Persuasion. London： the Penguin Group， 1994.
[2]Lorri G. Nandrea. Difference and Repetition in Austen’s Persuasion.JSTOR .2007.
[3]Arthur E. Walzer. Rhetoric and Gender in Jane Austen's Persuasion. JSTOR.Oct.1995.
[4]Joseph M. Duffy， Jr.Structure and Idea in Jane Austen's "Persuasion".JSTOR.Mar. 1954.
[5]Robert Hopkins. Moral Luck and Judgment in Jane Austen's Persuasion. JSTOR.Sep.1987.