Says Who?

In her novel Persuasion, Jane Austen uses a lot of free indirect discourse. This can be both confusing and enlightening for the reader. On one hand, one is never positive who is thinking the ideas (is it Anne? Her sisters? Some narrator?), but on the other hand it allows the reader to interpret the book more in their own way. With free indirect discourse, the characters can be further developed into many different ways, because of the numerous possible interpretations – there is no one right answer.

In Chapter 15 there is a long paragraph of free indirect discourse after Mr. Elliot (the cousin) has made a very late night call to Elizabeth Elliot’s house and it is the first time all the Elliot’s have been reunited in a long time. The paragraph starts with “It was the same, the very same man, with no difference but of dress” (133). Who is thinking this idea – that Mr. Elliot looks exactly the same as their brief encounter at Lyme? It could be anyone who was in the party out on the stroll that morning: Charles, Mary, Anne, Louisa, Henrietta, or Captain Wentworth. “Anne drew back a little, while the others received his compliments, and her sister his apologies for calling as so unusual an hour, but “he could not be so near without wishing to know the neither she nor her friend had taken cold the day before, &c., &c.” which was all as politely done, and as politely taken as possible, but her part must follow then” (133).  This sentence includes both free indirect discourse and tagged direct discourse (the direct quote from Mr. Elliot about wanting to stop in to make sure they were all okay). The free indirect discourse suggests that Anne is doing/thinking this, because what the others are saying (the compliments and apologies) are not tagged and it is not noted exactly what they are saying. Because Anne is not being spoken directly to, she is not taking in every sentence, but rather she just knows what is going on from outside of the picture a little bit – after drawing back.

Next, Sir Walter Elliot introduces Mr. Elliot to Anne. Mr. Elliot “looked completely astonished, but not more astonished than pleased; his eyes brightened, and with the most perfect alacrity he welcomed the relationship, alluded to the past, and entreated to be received as an acquaintance already” (133). If this sentence were written ‘he was completely astonished’, it would be implied that Mr. Elliot was astonished, and knew full well that he was; however the use of ‘looked’ suggests that these thoughts are those of someone in the room watching him. There are many other people in the room, but few have such a passive demeanor that they would be able to comment on this scene so, without more attitude behind the thoughts (for example if Sir Walter Elliot were thinking this, it would have a more vain tone of knowing that Mr. Elliot would of course be pleased with his daughter). Therefore I say that this discourse is simply from the narrator – plain and to the point.

The last sentences of the paragraph are more clear: “He was quite as good-looking as he had appeared at Lyme, his countenance improved by speaking, and his manners were so exactly what they ought to be, so polished, so easy, so particularly agreeable, that she could compare them in excellence to only one person’s manners. They were not the same, but they were, perhaps, equally good (133-4). The first half could once again be anyone who was in the party at Lyme and had seen the handsome man, but by the end it is clear that this discourse is Anne’s. She is dissecting Mr. Elliot’s manners and behavior, and then comparing them to another man she is grieving over: Captain Wentworth.