t them to weave together, to be connected at some point. For example, in the third chapter we learn that Anne’s father, Sir Walter’s profligate lifestyle forces the Elliot’s removal to Bath where they can live within their means and lease Kellynch Hall estate to Admiral Croft and his wife, who happens to be the sister of Frederick Wentworth. As Anne strolls the gardens, she dreams that “perhaps, he will be walking” along the same path (Austen 18). This passage introduces “he,” Anne’s estranged lover, and we expect that this separation will be resolved at some point in the work and the lovers will be reunited.The novel also offers us commentary on society by its vivid portrayal of the social order. Of course, other genres such as poetry, the short story, or the play offer social commentary, but the novel accomplishes this in a manner that focuses on the banal details of everyday life. This is especially pertinent in Austen’s novels, comic romances that peer at domesticity, the minutiae of everyday through a magnifying glass. Watt explains that it is the nature of the novel to surround characters with a “detailed presentation of their environment” (Watt 18). This presentation of the characters’ background provides for social commentary. Of course, as readers, we allow the author room for artifice. For example, we suspend disbelief when circumstances just happen to occur, such the intimacy between Anne’s cousin, Sir Walter, and her recluse friend, Mrs. Smith, that sheds light on Sir Walter’s duplicity with Anne and her family. But we expect an adherence to the reality of the social order of the time. For instance, although I am no scholar of early nineteenth century life, I read with the expectation that Austen is accurate in her portrayal of the upper and middle classes (especially women’s life) in provincial England. She may fabricate to make a good...
