Feeding The Jane Austen Addiction

If you haven't noticed from my name, I absolutely love Jane Austen. Sometimes I feel as Jane Austen is the only person who knows how I feel and who can make me feel better. Her stories and characters help me get through some of my worst days, and they also make good days even better. My favorite story by Jane Austen is Pride and Prejudice. I know most people think this is cliché, but I really feel there is no man like Mr. Darcy and no heroine like Elizabeth Bennet.

But, yesterday I was pleasantly surprised with another Jane Austen story, Persuasion. I must admit I have never read or seen Persuasion. Yes, I am a bad Jane Austen addict. But I decided to watch it and I thought it was a great story. It is about a 27 year old woman named Anne Elliot, who was engaged to Frederick Wentworth, a poor naval officer. She is convinced to break off the engagement because Frederick does not have enough money. Years later, she meets Frederick again, who has made a large sum of money from fighting in the Napoleonic wars, and her feelings for him have never changed, but has his?

What really intrigued me about the story was the ending. Anne feels as if Frederick no longer loves her, and her cousin William Elliot wants to marry her for her title and money, but Anne is not sure how Frederick feels and does not want to give up on him for she still loves him. She has a conversation with another naval officer about love and attachments within earshot of Frederick. When hearing this, Frederick writes Anne a note revealing how much he really does love her and how he has never stopped. What got my attention from this scene and basically the whole movie, was one line in the letter which reminded me why I love Jane Austen. The quote is as follows:

"You pierce my heart, I am half agony, half hope..."

I just thought the quote was magnificent. It showed the love and anguish Frederick has felt for Anne for over 8 years. I could only think to myself how much I wish someone would speak to me that way.

(This is the entire ending of the movie, the actual quote is at the 2:51 mark)

Overall, I felt as if the movie was not as great as Pride and Prejudice, but I did towards the end begin to really love Anne and Frederick. What really made it all worth while were those simple words uttered in despair by Frederick.