Theme Of Social Class In Persuasion

Persuasion and the Class Differences in Nineteenth-Century Britain Victorian England was one the most fascinating time periods in history. With all of the glamour and regality that was often associated with the Victorian era, one cannot help but to be swept away with ideas of royal balls in splendorous estates of the upper class. However, there was much more that lied underneath the skin of the Victorian Era. Indeed, the discussion of gender roles and social classes were rampant in this era. Not everyone could attend the royal balls or fill their houses with mirrors. Every single person was different especially when looking at social class. The best way to examine social class is by looking at the book Persuasion by Jane Austen. In particular, …show more content…
Susie Steinbach wrote, “For Americans, a better parallel to class in Victorian Britain is race in the United States. In both instances, there is a long and complex history that is characterized by hierarchy, by institutionalized inequity, and by a strong feeling on the part of most people that people of different classes and races are fundamentally unlike one another” . Steinbach’s word have never been clearer when looking at the characters of Sir Walter Elliot and Captain Wentworth. When looking at class status, Sir Walter Elliot was all about his status as a member of the aristocracy. The narrator of Persuasion indicated in the novel, “Vanity was the beginning and the end of Sir Walter Elliot’s character” . No person could better exemplify the regal attitude of the upper-class better than Sir Elliot. He prided himself on his lineage, baronetcy, and wealthy estates. His lavish spending habits cost him his estate at Kellynch . He wished to find a suitable marriage for his daughter, Elizabeth, who takes after her father in terms of lifestyle. Basically, Sir Walter Elliot was all about his wonderful status as a member of the upper-class. The narrator said on Sir Elliot, “He considered the blessing of beauty as inferior only to the blessing of a baronetcy; and the Sir Walter Elliot, who united these gifts, was the constant object of his warmest respect and devotion” …show more content…
Persuasion: An Authoritative Text Backgrounds and Sources Criticism. Edited by Patricia Meyer Spacks. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1995

Pool, Daniel. What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist- The Facts of Daily Life in Nineteenth-century England. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993.

Steinbach, Susie. Understanding the Victorians: Politics, Culture, and Society in Nineteenth-Century Britain. London: Routledge,