#persuasion

i have, on the other hand, read "Last Best Kiss" by Claire LaZebnik, not knowing that it's a modern retelling of Austen's "Persuasion". i was halfway through the film (where Louisa threw herself off the flight of stairs) and i was like, "hmm where have i read this before...?" then it clicked. wow. who knew i'd been reading modern retellings of Austen at 7th grade. (i've also read "Wrong About the Guy"; that one's a retelling of "Emma"!)

"Long enough for us to do some nutting anyway... Captain Wentworth."

Mary Musgrove is so offended by the Hayters, even though her mother-in-law was a Hayter (and therefore clearly Married Up into an old, wealthy, and respectable family). The daughters of the family are said to be more elegant than their parents, but nobody seems to look down on the Musgroves for their lack of elegance. Something something old-fashioned manners something something.

Capt. Harville appears to be of a lower rank/income, but has been raised somewhat by his rank in the navy, which actually allowed for actual social climbing - interesting that Mary doesn't have a problem with getting to know THEM!

The Eliots are very proud of their baronetcy - but how much higher actually WERE they than others? Clearly they feel there's an enormous difference in rank (requiring lots of sycophancy) between their baronetcy and their cousins' viscounty (I had to look that word up lol), even though they're only two noble ranks/titles below them. Sir Walter has a fit about Mrs. Smith, but it sounds like Mrs. Smith was actually quite wealthy while her husband was alive, and she was of high enough rank to go to the same school as Anne. And then of course, Sir Walter seems in danger of marrying Mrs. Clay, and even Anne, with her more egalitarian outlook, thinks this is a Bad Thing because of how much lower Mrs. Clay is in social rank.