Elizabeth
Persuasion

My full name is Elizabeth so I find it very interesting that my favorite character of all time in Pride & Prejudice is named Elizabeth - but also this character here is named Elizabeth. Why did Jane Austen use the same name for two very divergent characters?

This Elizabeth is an eldest sister, and like the other Lizzie, has no desire to marry just because she's told she has to. If you look at the books, in all of them women are being constantly hounded to get married properly or face spinsterhood. Several people talk about Anne becoming a spinster. But Elizabeth is OLDER than Anne and nobody considers her a spinster. They consider her still quite likely to marry, because of her beauty and position. She is taking her time and doing things at her pace.

That is not to say she's a quality character here :) She obviously overspends on everything, and while she is supposed to be the "responsible elder one" she is quite the opposite. She encourages her father to excess to the point that they are deeply in debt.

The 2008 Masterpiece Theater version is below. Elizabeth is great, I love how she pops strawberries into her mouth while saying she has been cutting back on life's necessities.



Here Elizabeth is on the left and Mrs. Clay is on the right.



The down side in the 2008 version is that she looks like the STEPMOTHER age-wise!! She is way too old looking. I've had several people comment that when they first saw this version that they thought Elizabeth was the stepmother of Anne at the beginning, married to Anne's father.

In the 1995 version Elizabeth was OK. She was mistress of her own home and liked the power.



I'm not sure anybody wore bright red back then, though.



In the 1971 BBC version, Elizabeth is much more filled out as a character. She is silly, yes, but she actively directs her father into intelligent choices about letting the house and choosing a tenent. She is skilled with the ins and outs of political situations with other families and advises there as well. She is genuinely concerned at the end with the Mrs. Gray situation. She comes across as far more of a "real family member" here.



Elizabeth and her father, learning about Mrs. Clay.



However, in the 1971 version she seems like the youngest daughter, looks-wise. She should have looked older.

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