Anacortes Senior College

Come join a "Janeite" to explore the wit, wisdom of human nature of Jane Austen. Her characters act within the context and family of Regency (1811-1820) England. The themes are timeless: family, social class, community and love. The need to marry is a preoccupation with Jane’s characters. Why do they do it: necessity, security, status or love?

Persuasion is Jane Austen’s last and shortest novel. The heroine, Anne Elliot (27 years old) is still suffering from a love lost 8 years ago due to a persuasive argument against it. Now that lost love reappears. A great deal of persuasion is needed by all parties.

Persuasion: The action of persuading or seeking to persuade; presenting of inducements or winning arguments to a person to induce him to do or believe something. OED definition **Jane-ite: an enthusiastic fan or devotee of the works of Jane Austen. Coined in 1890 by literary critic George Sainsbury.

Prior to the course, the instructor encourages you to read the book or at least look at one of the several film versions.

Instructor: Susan Guterbock

Susan is a dual national-US and UK. Grew up in the east bay area of San Francisco and went to UC Berkeley from 1964-68 (exciting times). She was introduced to Jane Austen by her English mother. She is an avid reader and when she becomes unsure about what to read, she returns to JA. JA continues to delight Susan with her astute observations of human nature and portrayals of people from all classes of society.

In 2017 Susan and three friends (two of whom are "Janeites") went on our own self-guided tour of the places in Jane Austen’s life. We went to Lyme Regis (mentioned big time in Persuasion) and none of us fell off The Cobb.