My Dearest Janeite-
As I finished watching the 2007 version of Persuasion for the I-Don't-Know-How-Manyth time, I realized why I have always thought this book the most challenging when translating into a movie. For one, Anne does quite a bit of internal thinking throughout the course of the novel, a difficult thing to show on camera. This version of Persuasion attempts it by having our fair Anne stare mournfully into the camera, as if her eyes were pleading with us to understand what she is feeling. I do like the movie, as well as the 1995 version (pictured below), but find it more interesting that each version has chosen a different way to get to the ending of Wentworth's and Anne's story.
Why is that you might ask? Well, our dear Jane had initially written one particular ending for these two characters, then decided it was too boring and rewrote it. In fact, the rewritten manuscript of this section of Persuasion is the only example of Austen editing that we have in her own hand. While one does lament for the epistolary letters between Elinor and Marianne (before they became Sense & Sensibility), this does give us the notion that Jane did keep her dear readers in mind.
If you are feeling particularly frisky or academic, you can read the cancelled chapters 10 and 11 of Persuasion here. Which ending do you prefer? I just cannot quite decide, but I must say that Sally Hawkins did a lot of running to and fro at the end of the 2007 movie. Someone get that girl a cup of tea.
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