On The Romantic Elements In Persuasion

Jane Austen (1775-1817) is an outstanding English writer in the late eighteenthcentury and the early nineteenth century. In literary history, she has always beenclassified into the realistic writers, however, living in the Romantic period, she isinevitably influenced by the romanticism thoughts, and there are inevitably romanticelements in her works, but only a small number of critics study the romanticelements in her works. Compared with the systematic studies on the realistic style ofher works, the researches on the romantic elements in her works appear to befragmented and not comprehensive enough, and the comprehension on Austen’sromantic style just bases on the perceptual level. This paper regards that with thechanges of the society and her family, Austen shifts her emphasis on the ideologyfrom Rationalism to Romanticism, which has been very clearly demonstrated in thelate work Persuasion.Through a survey of the factors that influence the creation of Persuasion and adetailed textual analysis of Persuasion, this thesis argues that Jane Austen clearlydemonstrates her Romantic tendency in using romantic motifs and romantictechniques. This thesis is divided into five parts. In the introduction part, JaneAusten’s important position in the literary world is emphasized. Researches fromhome and abroad are presented in order to show the various aspects that critics focuson Persuasion. In chapter one, this thesis studies Austen’s Romantic tendency. Thesocial changes, personal experience and the romantic poets affect Austen’s romantictendency. In chapter two, the Romantic motifs in Persuasion are illustrated. Thischapter analyses the beauty of nature and the harmonious relationship betweenhuman and nature, the solitude heroine, the romantic love and the simple charactersof figures. Then chapter three studies the Romantic techniques in Persuasion,focusing on the symbolism and metaphors as well as the poetic usage of language.The final chapter restates the purpose and significance of this research. Without the humorous features in her earlier works, there is an undercurrent of Romanticism inAusten’s last completed work Persuasion, and it has been considered as her mostmelancholy and romantic novel. Doing this study will help people to have rationalcomprehension on the romantic characteristics of Austen’s novels and promote thefurther studies of her works.