Captain Wentworth

If most Jane Austen fans had to pick their favorite Jane Austen novel, the first choice would probably be Pride and Prejudice.  However, if I had to choose it would be Persuasion.  Ms. Austen's female lead in this novel is Anne Elliot, who is more mature than her other leading women.  Anne, in her youth, was persuaded to refuse Captain Wentworth.  Though she may have made some youthful mistakes, Anne has grown into an intelligent, capable woman.  Her beauty is not obvious and flashy, so much so that her own family tends to overlook her.  Anne may be quiet, but she is quiet steel. 

Part of Captain Wentworth's allure is that he does eventually recognize this after he gets over his hurt feelings.  Several years after the rejection, he is back in the family circle and slowly comes to realize he still loves her.  As with most of Jane Austen's male leads, which  is part of what makes her so cool (especially for her time), he ignores the flash (eventually) and goes for the true worth.

The other part of Captain Wentworth's allure is hidden between the lines.  Ms. Austen focused on the interactions and relations between people,  which is what she excels at and what she knew.  But what is not discussed is how Captain Wentworth could have joined the navy and come back with what amounted to a fortune at the time.   How does a sailor, captain or not, amass a fortune?  It worked roughly like this: when a ship fought another ship during back then, either from another country or a pirate ship, the spoils (gold coins, whatever) went to the winning ship.  Some would be set aside for whatever government the ship is operating under (unless the winning ship was a pirate ship, of course), the rest would then be divided up according to rank.  For Captain Wentworth to get a fortune this way would mean that his ship won a lot, in dangerous situations.  Captain Wentworth, in modern terms, would be considered a bad boy, a bit dangerous, with a bit of an edge.  Yet sensitive enough to recognize that he still loves Anne and to recognize her worth, her intelligence, and her hidden strength. 

Now that's a package.

It's the formula for almost every romantic comedy out there.  Especially if the movie stars Gerard Butler.

As I've mentioned before, in my modern rewrite I would cast John Cusack.  My dream movie would have Mr. Cusack in a Jane Austen novel, and converting the character from sailor to actor would give plenty of opportunity for a hint of bad boy.

My favorite Captain Wentworth, other than John Cusack, is Ciaran Hinds, who plays the character as large and a bit intimidating, and is truly an imposing figure.  I can see him striking fear into even the most scary of pirates.  Yet he also shows the human side of the character when he is with his sailor friends and when he relents toward Anne.

Another recent version of Persuasion from 2007 starred Rupert Penry-Jones (on left).  This version confused me.  At the end he buys the family estate for Anne.   This is strange because her father, Baron Elliot, is still alive and is still very much aware of the family image which would definitely not involve selling the family estate, the basis of his self-perceived prestige.  And though Ms. Austen doesn't mention if the estate is entailed like the one in Pride and Prejudice, since it will be inherited by a male cousin it mostly likely is entailed.  Entailment guarantees that the house will always be passed from male to male so it stays in the family, and the entailed estate cannot be sold.  This means that there was no way that Captain Wentworth could have purchased this property for Anne.