Did Willoughby Join the Navy? Patrick O’Brian’s Thirty-Year Homage to Jane Austen

By James R. Simmons

Woodcut by Joan Hassall illustrating a pivotal scene from Persuasion, with Captain Wentworth kneeling at center. From the 1975 Folio Society edition.

Whether the comparisons are obvious or not, as The New Yorker noted, “O’Brian acknowledges Jane Austen as one of his inspirations, and she need not be ashamed of the affiliation” (ctd. in King 344).

This scholarly article by James R. Simmons addresses the connections between our beloved series and Jane Austen’s works.

Did Willoughby Join the Navy? Patrick O’Brian’s Thirty-Year Homage to Jane Austen by James R. Simmons

From Persuasions, vol. 26, 2004, pp. 170-175.

Courtesy of JASNA.

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