Chapter XI explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Regret and Second Chances

  Anne reflects on past meetings with Captain Wentworth at Kellynch Hall and the pain of their history.

• The Naval Profession

  Louisa praises the navy's warmth and worth; Captain Wentworth and Captain Harville share naval anecdotes.

• Persuasion and Influence

  Anne gently persuades Captain Benwick to read prose for moral fortitude, though she later doubts her own consistency.

Characters to notice

• Anne Elliot

  Anxious about returning to Kellynch and meeting Captain Wentworth; finds herself growing more hardened to his company; engages Captain Benwick in conversation and recommends moral and religious works.

• Captain Frederick Wentworth

  Returns to Uppercross after visiting Captain Harville in Lyme; proposes the trip to Lyme; leads talk with Captain Harville during the evening.

• Louisa Musgrove

  Eager to visit Lyme, insists on going despite her parents' wishes; expresses admiration for the navy's character.

• Captain Benwick

  Shy and grieving, he discusses poetry with Anne and accepts her recommendations for prose to help with his affliction.

• Captain Harville

  Settled at Lyme for the winter; visits the party in the evening with Captain Benwick.

• Lady Russell

  Expected to return soon; Anne is anxious about her meeting Captain Wentworth.

Key passages

• “The time now approached for Lady Russell’s return: the day was even fixed; and Anne, being engaged to join her as soon as she was resettled, was looking forward to an early removal to Kellynch, and beginning to think how her own comfort was likely to be affected by it.”

  Anne prepares to leave Uppercross and return to Kellynch, worrying about the emotional impact of being near Captain Wentworth.

  Anne's internal conflict about returning to Kellynch.

• “She ventured to hope he did not always read only poetry, and to say, that she thought it was the misfortune of poetry to be seldom safely enjoyed by those who enjoyed it completely; and that the strong feelings which alone could estimate it truly were the very feelings which ought to taste it but sparingly.”

  Anne suggests that poetry can be dangerous for those already overwhelmed by emotion, recommending prose instead.

  Anne advises Captain Benwick on managing grief through reading.

• “Anne could not but be amused at the idea of her coming to Lyme to preach patience and resignation to a young man whom she had never seen before; nor could she help fearing, on more serious reflection, that, like many other great moralists and preachers, she had been eloquent on a point in which her own conduct would ill bear examination.”

  Anne finds it ironic that she counsels patience and resignation to a stranger, realizing she herself has not always followed such advice.

  Anne's self-awareness about her own failings in love and constancy.