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 daughter of Sir Walter Elli