I mentioned Wentworth's (or Wenty as I like to call him) letter to Anne in my last post, so for those of you who haven't read Persuasion, here's the letter:
I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant. You alone have brought me to Bath. For you alone, I think and plan. Have you not seen this? Can you fail to have understood my wishes? I had not waited even these ten days, could I have read your feelings, as I think you must have penetrated mine. I can hardly write. I am every instant hearing something which overpowers me. You sink your voice, but I can distinguish the tones of that voice when they would be lost on others. Too good, too excellent creature! You do us justice, indeed. You do believe that there is true attachment and constancy among men. Believe it to be most fervent, most undeviating, inIsn't it just the most amazing letter? If you haven't read the book - go now! Read!
F. W.
I must go, uncertain of my fate; but I shall return hither, or follow your party, as soon as possible. A word, a look, will be enough to decide whether I enter your father's house this evening or never.
I just randomly found your blog today and am so glad I did!! My all-time favorite Austen hero is Captain Wentworth. This is my personal favorite quote from Persuasion:
ReplyDeleteThey had no conversation together, no intercourse but what the commonest civility required. Once so much to each other! Now nothing! There had been a time, when of all the large party now filling the drawing-room at Uppercross, they would have found it most difficult to cease to speak to one another. With the exception..., perhaps, of Admiral and Mrs Croft, who seemed particularly attached and happy, (Anne could allow no other exceptions even among the married couples), there could have been no two hearts so open, no tastes so similar, no feelings so in unison, no countenances so beloved. Now they were as strangers; nay, worse than strangers, for they could never become acquainted. It was a perpetual estrangement.
(I just think Jane must have had a tragic romance in her past to know what it's like to run into an ex like this...)
Thanks for blogging!
Aw, I know! She was so brilliant wasn't she. She definitely must have loved and lost - she has far too much understanding of human emotion for someone who was apparently never in love. Thanks for reading!
ReplyDelete(Sigh)
ReplyDeleteBest. Proposal. Ever.
Persuasion is a lovely story isn't it...speaking of which, you might be interested to learn that I recently published a modern day adaptation of Persuasion entitled, "A Modern Day Persuasion". How might a newbie author go about getting mentioned or reviewed on your website? I couldn't find any contact information... Thanks!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to your reply,
Kaitlin Saunders
www.kaitlin-saunders.com
Taking Jane Austen into the 21st Century
A Modern Day Persuasion