Close Reading Blog!

In her piece, Weissman suggested that the passage discussing Anne’s feelings about being rejoined with Wentworth describes feelings that are both “paradoxical” and “ambivalent,” and that “it is the nature of storytelling to etch patterns and simultaneously to violate them.” (90) In essence, Weissman argues that the use of these contrasting words represents Anne’s indecisive nature, and that this ambivalence is simply used to add a fictional, dramatic touch to the story.

However, it is more likely that this seeming paradoxical description is actually conflation of past and present that attempts to produce a sense of pleasurable excess and a desire for more. The first piece of evidence for this is in the line “… but which had been followed by so many, many years of division and estrangement.” (Austen, 160) This doubling of the word “many” conveys a sense of excess emotion, again standing as a foundation for this idea of excess. Also, in the next sentence, the word “more” is used four times within 3 lines; this concern with the word “more” also represents a desire for even more than what is already present, or excess. (Weissman, 90)

The idea of pleasure is also demonstrated throughout this piece. The first sentence of the passage from Austen describes old feelings and promises that Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth had shared in the past, when they were in a loving relationship filled with joy and pleasure. The words “again,” “followed,” “happy,” and “secure” (Austen, 160) also take the reader back to the delightful, pleasurable times that Anne and Captain Wentworth had previously shared. Moreover, the last line which describes “explanations… which were so poignant and so ceaseless in interest” also describes pleasure, with seeming sexual undertones. Additionally, the use of free indirect discourse in this piece does not give the reader the exact dialogue between Anne and Captain Wentworth; it instead leaves the reader longing for more description of the pleasure that Anne is undergoing after having gone through this release and openness to talk, which also may have slightly sexual undertones. In this way, this idea of pleasure and excess are combined to form the main theme of this passage.