Jane Austen’s Persuasion and Laurence Sterne’s A Sentimental Journey are each written very differently from the other, in terms of narration, plot advancement, character depiction, etc.; however the novels do have some similar passages in which the protagonists are put into situations they must make similar decisions. For example, on page 165 of Persuasion, the reader questions Anne Elliot’s motives of going to the window in the same way he questions Yorick’s motives of asking the woman to share a carriage on page 19 of A Sentimental Journey.
After seeing Captain Wentworth in the street, “[Anne] now felt a great inclination to go to the outer door; she wanted to see if it rained. Why was she to suspect herself of another motive?” (165). This passage is written in free indirect discourse, so the reader is not sure if it is Anne or a third person narrator speaking, but for argument’s sake I make the case that this is Anne thinking, and she clearly already knows that she is going to the window for the sole purpose of catching a glimpse of Captain Wentworth. She is trying to lie to herself – to trick herself into thinking she wants to know if it rained (by going to the window she will most certainly find this out, however if Captain Wentworth had not passed by, she would not have gone to the window). People do this all the time – it is like when I know I shouldn’t get dessert but go to the dessert area anyway to “see if there is any fruit I want”, and then when I see the stack of warm, fresh sugar cookies allow myself to have “just one”.
Yorick encounters the same type of moral, motive-based problem when he debates long and hard with himself about asking the lady to share a carriage with him. “Now where would the harm, said I to myself, if I was to beg of this distressed lady to accept of half my chaise? – and what mighty mischief could ensue?” (19). It is clear that the real reason Yorick wants to share the carriage is because he is hoping to have sexual relations with the woman. This passage is written in first person narrative so we actually hear everything the protagonist is debating, and while he tries to convince himself he is being gentlemanly, he says himself, “you can never after, cried HIPOCRACY aloud, shew your face in the world” and we as the reader know that he knows, deep down, the real reason of asking the lady.
I agree with your argument that both novels put the main characters into situations where they are in a dilemma within themselves. I agree that Anne is trying to convince herself that going to the window is not a bad thing. I also agree that Yorick is in a dilemma and discusses with himself the situation he is and his reasons for asking the lady. Through the use of free indirect discourse we can see Anne's point of view and through the use of first person narration we can see Yoricks point of view. I think that both of these forms give the main characters feelings on a situation in two different ways. One gives us Anne's thoughts but through the use of free indirect discourse the reader is left in a state of confusion on what she is debating with herself. All we can tell is that she is convincing herself that it she wants to see the rain. The difference in first person narration is that we can see Yoricks thoughts clearly.
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