ABSTRACT
In Persuasion, Jane Austen confounds a teleological trajectory in her rewriting of masculinity by radically rewriting the conventional courtship romance plot and constructing Captain Frederick Wentworth as her most complex male protagonist. Her post-war sensibility drives a renewed focus on the emotional volatility of the male self, particularly in the context of romantic love, as Wentworth reflects the darker side of her reconstruction of male subjectivity: a man for whom the open expression of an authentic identity and romantic love has produced rejection, disappointment, and resentment. Unable to manage the emotional and psychological turmoil triggered by his reunion with Anne Elliot, Wentworth retreats into scripted modes of social performance grounded in ideologies of chivalry and polite sociability, the authentic expression of his inner self hampered by uncertainty over who he is and his relationship to the woman he loves. It is only when Anne effectively chooses him that Wentworth can achieve self-fulfilment. In Persuasion, Austen interrogates the reality that masculine authenticity and feminine agency will not always be complementary, even between two people passionately committed to each other.
