Jane Austen’s novel Persuasion explores the relationship between judgment–the capacity to form opinions based on reason, understanding, and intuition–and persuasion, convincing others to consider or accept one’s point of view. Austen takes a fairy-tale structure–the forsaken daughter who finds love–and imbues it with persuasive pathos by complementing the plot with irony-tinged commentary on a small set of characters. The fairy tale has a happy ending, but we’re meant to see more than Anne and Captain Wentworth’s marriage. The novel has very little external action. Instead, it gains its drama from how characters judge one another and the tension that comes from whether or not they will be persuaded by the good or bad judgment of others. In the end, the novel demonstrates that good judgments are ethical, not social, and persuasion should be judged by intent, not outcome.
The trio of Lady Elliot, Lady Russell, and Anne Elliot represent good judgment in the novel. They demonstrate emotional concern for others, exhibit that emotional concern through concrete behavior, and take responsibility for the consequences of those judgments. Lady Elliot, Anne’s late mother, exhibits “judgement and conduct…without indulgence.” The connection between judgment and conduct is crucial. Good evaluation is inextricable from good actions. It is, of course, Anne who elicits Lady Russell’s most favorable judgment: “only in Anne that she could fancy the mother to revive again.” Anne earns Lady Russell’s approbation because she exhibits the same good judgment and conduct as her mother. Lady Russell’s superior evaluation of people is something appreciated by Anne as well as the family attorney Mr. Shepherd. The narrator comments that Shepherd appeals to Lady Russell’s “known good sense…to have just such resolute measures advised as he meant to see finally adopted.” Anne listens to Lady Russell because of this reputation combined with her obvious affection for Anne’s mother and, by extension, Anne herself.
The list of characters with poor judgment is long. Anne’s father and sisters are too selfish to exhibit good judgment. They feel only their own slights and act according to what would be best for them. Consequently, they evaluate everything and everyone poorly. Walter Elliott can’t tell whose good or bad because all he can see is someone’s superficial social position. Elizabeth falls for Mrs. Clay’s sycophancy. Mary misreads her husband, children, and anyone connected to her family. There is little wonder why Anne relies on Lady Russell’s judgment in the absence of her mother. No one inside her family can make good decisions for themselves, much less someone else.
The novel’s chief theme, of course, is persuasion, and judgment plays a part in someone’s power to persuade and susceptibility to persuasion. At its best, this cycle of judgment and persuasion happens internally. Anne weighs the evidence of Mr. Elliott, her cousin, and finds that although he seems to have good judgment, “she would have been afraid to answer for his conduct.” Her judgment eventually comes down to her assessment of Mr. Elliot as a person: “she could not be satisfied that she really knew his character.” Without that knowledge, she persuades herself not to give him her affections.
Yet, she finds Lady Russell’s judgment potentially persuading. After learning the truth about Mr. Elliot from her friend Mrs. Smith, Anne reflects, “It was just possible that she might have been persuaded by Lady Russell!” Just as Lady Russell unwisely judged Captain Wentworth wanting, she unwisely judged Mr. Elliot as a suitable mate for Anne. Here we find a complication. Someone may exhibit good judgment in particular arenas and have an area of weakness. Lady Russell’s weakness appears to be in the area of determining Anne’s best romantic match. Ironically, her personal care for Anne may play a part in her poor judgment.
The novel’s action is largely internal, and one thing Anne must come to peace in her own heart and mind with what led her to break off her engagement with Captain Wentworth. She bowed to Lady Russell’s persuasive judgment against her own wishes. Yet, despite the heartache it brought her, she believes it was a correct decision driven by duty, which elucidates how judgment is a function of one’s conscience: “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.” Though Anne regrets the outcome, her decision meets her criterion of judgment. It was an ethical decision to obey Lady Russell as she would a parent. This wisdom in evaluating the nature of her persuadability is a persuasive testament to her maturity and strength of character.
Austen’s Persuasion offers a rich study of how judgment and persuasion can intersect and influence each other, inviting us to reflect on how closely intertwined good character and good judgment are
Experiments in Criticism 