History Characters / Persuasion

* {{Hypocrite}}: She insinuates that the Harvilles must be bad parents to be able to leave their children in others' care (specifically, Mary's and Charles', though they are actually with her mother-in-law) for a few months. In the ''same letter'', she asks for an invite to Bath and says that she can easily bear a few months away from her own children.

* TheMourningAfter: He's still deeply in mourning for his intended, Fanny Harville, and is ready to stay that way for the rest of his life. Until he meets Anne and Louisa.

* WidowsWeeds: The male version. He has black crepe around his hat, and everyone who discusses his prospects with Anne notes that their marriage would have take place after "a decent interval".

* WidowWoman: Her husband, a knight, passed away some years before the story. The narrator notes that some in the neighborhood expected she and widower Sir Walter would marry, and also that widows get a lot more side-eye for remarrying than widowers. Being a widow with command of her own fortune also gives Lady Russell a considerable degree of independence.

* DeterminedWidow: Although her husband's death left her impoverished and she fell ill soon afterwards, Mrs. Smith is determined to keep her sprits up. She also maintains her pride as a gentlewoman by making handcrafted items and selling them to provide charity to some poor families in the neighborhood.

* IllGirl: She was afflicted with severe rheumatism after her husband's death. During the story she is unable to walk, which is an improvement over her previous state of being bedridden.

* ProfessionalBrownNoser: She flatters and compliments Elizabeth and Sir Walter constantly, because despite their financial troubles, they're still baronets. However, when Mr. Elliot arrives to prevent a marriage that would knock him out of the inheritance, she turns her flattering ways on him instead.

* GoldDigger: She's hoping to flatter Sir Walter into marrying her. However, the narrative doesn't cast her as a villain as she might be in Austen's other books--it's not admirable, but it's also a logical move for a widow with no connections.

* BookWorm: Lady Russel loves reading and is crazy about getting new publications.

* NobleBigot: She doesn't ''hate'' people in a different social class than her, she just doesn't give them as much respect as they deserve. When Anne tells her the truth about William, she readily accepts that she was "pretty completely wrong", and does her best to support Wentworth.

* TrueCompanions: With his brother captains Harville and Benwick. Wentworth says that he would make a journey of any length if any weather to any request of Harville's and feels a deep sympathy for Benwick's heartbreak.

* BigBrotherInstinct: Over his deceased sister Fanny. He seems to genuinely resent that Benwick decided to marry someone else so soon, and insists that she would not have forgotten him so soon if their positions had been reversed.

* NumberTwo: He was Wentworth's first lieutenant on the ''Laconia'' before peace was declared. (It's possible, given what's said of that ship's adventures, that Harville was promoted to commend Wentworth--a common practice, since the captains themselves couldn't be promoted to admiral except by moving up the chain of seniority.)

* TheOneThatGotAway: Till Captain shows up again, Anne suffers from this trope a lot. She has done so for eight years. She's never met Captain Wentworth's equal and refused Charles Musgrove's offer. Justified by the fact that she never got beyond her social circle in the country.

!!Admiral and Mrs. Sophie Croft
The childless couple that rents out Kellynch. Admiral Croft is friendly and genuine; his wife is the same but with a better head for business. She's also Wentworth's sister, which is how he gets reintroduced to Anne.

* DrivesLikeCrazy: Wentworth jokes that his brother-in-law frequently oversets whenever he tries to manage something designed for land and hopes Sophie won't have to climb out of a ditch again.

* SelfMadeMan: He won about £25,000 in prize money during the war against Napoleon. In today's money, that will be slightly in excess of eight hundred thousand pounds (a veritable fortune in those days, where the prices of goods are but a feel pennies here and there).

The youngest Elliot sister. While she isn't quite as bad as Elizabeth, she's still self-centered and irritable.

* PassiveAggressiveKombat: In the first part of the book he never addresses Anne directly, but his pleasant conversations to the Musgroves are full of barbs that are meant for her. For example, his remark that he was so eager to go to sea because he had no wife to keep him ashore... ''Anne.''

* VengeanceFeelsEmpty: Wentworth gets to return to the scene of his heartbreak rich, respected, and desired, and can lord his new status over Anne, whose reward for breaking the engagement was to become faded and careworn. For a little while, Wentworth enjoys his passive-aggressive remarks and his open flirtation with the younger, prettier Musgrove sisters in front of her, but it starts to sour even before the visit to Bath when he sees just ''how'' much her spirit has suffered in the past eight years. As it turns out, it's not terribly satisfying [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown kicking someone who's already down]].

* SilkHidingSteel: Mrs. Croft has spent most of her married life at her husband's side, even while he's at sea fighting the French Navy, and she's never even been seasick. She's an excellent, well-mannered lady, but she slaps her brother down when he starts in on women not being suited for the hardships of life at sea. (A pretty silly remark in all consequence since he knows perfectly well she's lived on one.)
* WomenAreWiser: Mrs. Croft is noted as having more business sense than her husband.

* ElegantClassicalMusician: Anne Elliot is an elegant, slender woman with cultured mind. She plays the piano exceptionally well and has great taste in music. However, she could share it with only two people — her late mother and her former fiancé Captain Wentworth.

* IRegretNothing: [[spoiler:She eventually decides that in spite of the pain it caused her and Wentworth, she was right to bow to others' opinions by not marrying him when they were young]].

* OldMaid: She's twenty-seven and not married yet. That was a dangerous age when a woman was close to being considered unfit to marry.

* VengeanceFeelsEmpty: Wentworth gets to return to the scene of his heartbreak rich, respected, and desired, and can lord his new status over Anne, whose reward for breaking the engagement was to become faded and careworn. For a little while, Wentworth enjoys his passive-aggressive remarks and his open flirtation with the younger, prettier Musgrove sisters in front of her, but it starts to sour even before the visit to Bath when he sees just ''how'' much her spirit has suffered in the past eight years.

* LoveDodecahedron: She's involved in one. Charles Musgrove loved her, but married her sister. She loves Captain Wentworth who used to love her as well but now thinks he might love Louisa or Henrietta. Captain Benwick is obviously infatuated with her and she doesn't find him too shabby either. Her cousin William wants her as well and she's tempted to return the affection.

* OldMaid: She's twenty-seven and not married yet. That was a dangerous age, when a woman was close to being considered unfit to marry.

* {{Hypocrite}}: She insinuates that the Harvilles must be bad parents to be able to leave their children in others' care (specifically, Mary's and Charles') for a few months. In the ''same letter'', she asks for an invite to Bath and says that she can easily bear a few months away from her own children.

Mary's sister-in-law. Louisa is confident and lively and becomes quite attached to Wentworth, who declares himself wanting to marry a confident and lively woman.

* FallingIntoHisArms: Invoking this becomes one of her favorite things to do: jumping off of steps so that Wentworth will catch her. When she tries it from the Cobb at Lyme, she runs up to a ''very'' high spot, ignoring his protests. He's unable to catch her and she sustains a severe head injury that leaves her unconscious for at least a day.

* HarpOfFemininity: Plays the harp. In one scene, the Musgrove sisters' harp is especially delived to a dinner party at her brother's so she could play the harp.

* SecondLove: Not for Wentworth, but ''Benwick.''
* SpiritedYoungLady: Unlike other Austen ladies of this mold, though, Louisa sometimes has more spirit than sense.

* WidowsWeeds: The male version. He has black crepe around his hat, and everyone who discusses his prospects with Anne notes that their marriage would have take place after "a decent interval."

* NewOldFlame: To Captain Wentworth. They used to be engaged and the chemistry is still there, despite the fact that Captain Wentworth chooses to ignore her at first.

* KissingCousins: He flirts with Anne by saying he hopes her name never changes. Normal for the time.

* IWasQuiteALooker: She was very pretty when she was younger -- a teenager and in her early twenties. Her loss of love cost her her bloom and she's considered rather plain, but elegant. Her looks improve considerably when she gets happier.

* HarpOfFemininity: Plays the harp. In one scene, the Musgrove sisters' harp is especially delived to a dinner party at her brotehr's so she could play the harp.

* {{Expy}}: To some extent, of [[Literature/PrideAndPrejudice Mr. William Collins]]. Both are a cousin of the heroine (Mr. Collins for Elizabeth Bennet, Mr. Elliot for Anne) and set to inherit the heroine's father's estate due to the HeirClubForMen; as such, they are presented as a viable option for matrimony for the heroine. Here, the resemblance ends, as Mr. Elliot is much more charismatic than Mr. Collins.

* TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry: Competes with her less-confident sister Henrietta for Wentworth's attention, though Louisa soon takes the lead.

* HiddenDepths: Anne is highly regarded by all sensible people who know her, and she is very accomplished. Her taste and knowledge of literature and music is well known to all, but people in her company at a concert in Bath are extremely impressed by the fact that she has a command of Italian and is able to translate a song into elegant English for them. She is also very modest about it.