Persuasion

Anne worries about Mrs. Clay’s motives and whether her father is falling in love with her. She observes that her father gives Mrs. Clay enthusiastic, sometimes undue praise, while Lady Russell is frustrated that Mrs. Clay is preferred by both Sir Walter and Elizabeth over Anne. The more Lady Russell gets to know Mr. Elliot, the more highly she thinks of him as a member of the family. Anne, however, is skeptical and is not persuaded by Lady Russell’s opinion: “It was now some years since Anne had begun to learn that she and her excellent friend could something think differently” (138). Though Anne enjoys Mr. Elliot’s company, she notes that “his value for rank and connexion she perceived to be greater than hers” (139).

When the Elliot’s aristocratic cousins arrive in Bath, Anne’s family agonizes over how to form an acquaintance with Lady Dalrymple and Miss Carteret so that they might benefit from influential friends. Sir Walter writes a successful letter of introduction. Anne is ashamed by the energy and selfish clamoring for connection that her family exhibits. She confides in Mr. Elliot that she finds it beneath them to form acquaintances with the Dalrymples in Bath when the Dalrymples would not condescend to know them in places of larger social importance, like London.