Narratology Talks to the Talking Cure in Persuasion

Abstract

Abstract This essay puts Persuasion in conversation with psychotherapeutic approaches to Austen and cognitive literary studies (more broadly, approaches that draw on the sciences of mind). Narrative therapy provides a heuristic for Persuasion, accounting for Anne Elliot's recovery from melancholy to achieve a sense of well-being. In line with the goals of narrative therapy, she learns to tell a different story about herself than the one that has oppressed her since her broken engagement. The novel represents the therapeutic elements involved in such reenvisioning, including validation; holding; the availability of alternative, better narratives as models; and awareness of the cultural factors that have contributed to her state of mind. Conversely, narratology accounts for the representation of Anne's experience, showing how literary devices, including embedded narrative, focalization, and voice, convey Anne's transformation from melancholy and passive spinster to active and vital woman who defends her actions and renews her engagement on better terms. This transformation depends not only on interpersonal exchanges but also on her realization that cultural “master narratives” infiltrate our most intimate stories.