Jane Austen's Persuasion: An Analysis Jane Austen's Persuasion depicts a young woman's struggles with love, friendship and family. Anne Elliot who is pretty, intelligent and amiable, had some years before been engaged to a young naval officer, Frederick Wentworth, but had been persuaded by her trusted friend Lady Russell to break off the engagement, because of his lack of fortune and a misunderstanding of his easy nature. The breach had brought great unhappiness to Anne. Pre-Victorian England offers a romantic and whimsical backdrop for the characters. When the story opens Anne is twenty seven, and the bloom of her youth is gone. She is the d