Informal Exercise 4 On page 138 of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, Admiral Croft and Anne Eliot are walking back home together. In the second paragraph, Anne wants to know more about Louisa and Frederick’s failed relationship; however, Admiral Croft delays this conversation till they are ascending the slope to Belmont. “She had hoped… to have her curiosity gratified, but was still obliged to wait”, puts Anne in a very passive role. Instead of directly asking Admiral Croft and thus gratifying her curiosity on her own terms, she has to wait for Admiral Croft to start talking about this issue so he can gratify her curiosity. Admiral Croft has “made up his mind not to begin” to talk about his brother-in-law’s failed engagement till they had managed …show more content…
Croft” “must let him have his own way”), it is still his actions that lead Anne and the conversation. He “makes up his mind”, he has “to have his own way”, while Anne “ventures”, Anne “hopes, Anne waits, Anne obliges him. Admiral Croft’s few actions seem more substantial than Anne’s many. Despite her desire to know more about Frederick, she does not openly press the issue, and waits till Admiral Croft is comfortable enough to talk about it, despite her own discomfort. This paragraph also flows from very active and moving, to stationary, to finally active and moving again. Anne “ventures” to talk about Frederick, but then the next sentence is written in passive voice, because she has to oblige Admiral Croft’s wishes and wait for him to initiate the conversation. In the last sentence, Admiral Croft starts to speak when they “ascend” the slope towards Belmont. Clearly, despite Anne’s wishes, she is not one leading the conversation or its …show more content…
Croft brings to light another way gender was constructed in Austen’s society: men could demand things of unmarried women but a woman had to be married to the man to make demands of him. Admiral Croft subtly demands (or asks of) Anne that she wait till they reach Belmont to talk about Frederick. Anne, on the other hand, cannot press this issue. Mrs. Croft would have been able to, since Admiral Croft shares an intimate connection with her, and Frederick Wentworth is her brother. The relations of blood and of marriage are considered ties that bind you to a person forever (excepting extraordinary circumstances like disinheritance or divorce). To make demands, to ask anything of a man, a woman has to be attached to a man by birth (blood/kin relations), or attach herself to him at some point later in life (marital relations). A man, in contrast, does not have to worry about such seemingly trivial issues, and can impose their will and wants on a woman as they see fit. The fact that Anne has to wait because Admiral Croft wants to talk about this in a more private setting, and she respects his wishes, and that Admiral Croft has no problem in making Anne wait (“must let him have his own way”) is representative of this