Putting Jane Austen's novel Persuasion and William Shakespeare's play Antony and Cleopatra side by side, we observe an interesting parallel in the way the protagonists are portrayed. Although the views and opinions of Austen's Anne Elliot and Shakespeare's Antony are expressed directly and repeatedly, these firm expressions of feeling in their Romantic counterparts appear hollow. Readers can characterize Austen's Captain Wentworth and Shakespeare's Cleopatra in indirect ways. Purposely left without a lens into these characters' internal thoughts and feelings, readers reserve judgment on the characters until the conclusion of both works. This method used by Austen and Shakespeare, withholding a definitive vision of a character until the end of a work, ultimately creates immense success: it allows for various interpretations between readers and simultaneously also creates a sense of suspense, allowing for intense feelings. of anticipation until an eventual catharsis in which these internal feelings of Captain Wentworth and Cleopatra, originally hidden, "explode", resolving the discrepancies of the characters and providing readers with a shared experience even in this cathartic feeling. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay By observing this similar effect that Persuasion and Antony and Cleopatra have on readers, readers can also better understand Virginia Woolf's claims about the connection between Austen and Shakespeare in her essay “A Room of One's Own.” In that essay, Woolf expresses the "incandescence" that both authors possess, and emphasizes Austen and Shakespeare's shared ability to write without "any impediment", or to write in a way that does not reflect the opinions, prejudices, intrinsic opinions of the authors. or prejudices. It is this talent, according to Woolf, that makes both authors' writing have such a brilliant effect on its readers. Woolf states: “. . . the mind of an artist, in order to make the prodigious effort to liberate the work that is within him, whole and integral, must be incandescent. . . there must be no obstacle in it. . . “(Woolf 56). Since readers of Persuasion and Antony and Cleopatra are left to their own devices in playing two of the plays' protagonists, this ultimately adds to the overall success of the plays, creating a sense of drama and anxiety until the climax: a reader becomes directly involved . in anticipation of which feelings will be affirmed or denied, until each author offers a final expression of the "silent" inner voices of Captain Wentworth and Cleopatra that remained latent in both works. This, says Woolf, is a strong point of both Austen and Shakespeare: each does not speak through their characters, but by simultaneously allowing a varied interpretation that leads to the final statement of a character's once hidden voice, each work achieves the literary success in its conclusion: readers see characters in relation to the direct form of the work in question, rather than the form an author wants to promote or support. To begin to show this difference between how one lover's feelings are expressed as opposed to the "withheld" internal feelings of another, readers must first recognize the clear statements of feeling that Anne Elliot and Mark Antony express. For example, throughout Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, readers are offered definitive opinions about how Antony feels about his mistress. There is no doubt about his feelingsinteriors, and makes his love for Cleopatra, a woman he believes to be "the armorer of [his] heart" (Shakespeare IV.iv.10) known through various short speeches throughout the play. Lamenting his love and desire to follow Cleopatra regardless of circumstance, Antony states: “Egypt, thou knewest too well / My heart was for thy roped rudder, / And thou shouldest draw after me” (Shakespeare II.xii 60 -63).Through statements like this, Antony makes his inner feelings known throughout the play.Antony's clear descriptive statements about his love for Cleopatra help give readers an interpretation of his inner feelings for her love language for Cleopatra consumes all doubts, as her emotions towards the queen remain constant throughout the play Readers see these same expressions of Anne Elliot's inner feelings in Persuasion. Although the genre of Persuasion is obviously different from Antony and Cleopatra, Austen uses additional techniques to ensure that her readers are offered a glimpse into her characters' inner thoughts and emotions through the use of free indirect discourse. Through this method, readers can get an “insider look” into how Anne feels about Captain Wentworth expressed through the narrator. For example, readers can immediately understand Anne's continuing romantic feelings for Captain Wentworth when the narrator states early in the novel, "No one had ever entered Kellynch's circle, who could bear a comparison with Frederick Wentworth as he was in the his memory". . . .” (Austen 28). Through Austen's use of free indirect discourse here, readers learn that Anne still has feelings for Wentworth even after their engagement ended seven years earlier. The narrator leaves no doubt about how Anne feels, as this method allows for a clear expression of her inner feelings. Readers are therefore constantly aware of her feelings and emotions, especially towards her former lover. This is a significant insight, as the novel centers on the ongoing chain of events that ultimately leads to the reunion of the two at the novel's conclusion. Through the clear expressions of love portrayed by Antony and Anne Elliot, a contrast begins to emerge in characterization. of their romantic counterparts: readers are not given these similar declarations of feelings or allowed into the inner thought patterns of Captain Wentworth and Cleopatra, which makes their true emotions difficult to decipher for both readers and personages. In Persuasion, Austen's use of free indirect discourse allows her readers to “get into the heads” of a multitude of characters. Surprisingly, however, he does not apply this method to his protagonist, Captain Wentworth. Rather than display passages that allow readers to see what Wentworth feels or thinks, Wentworth's inner voice remains hidden from readers until the end of the novel. In this way, Austen allows for a buildup of emotion throughout the novel, prompting readers to decipher Wentworth through other means: through Anne's opinions of what she might be feeling or through her outward words and actions. This ultimately allows for a reader-based interpretation of what Wentworth might be feeling to guide the novel, ending with an end result of catharsis when Austen finally allows Wentworth's real inner feelings to be definitively revealed at the end of the book. Without an inside look inside Wentworth, readers are also left to judge what he might be thinking or feeling based oninterpretations through Anne's eyes. For example, when Anne finds out that Wentworth is in Bath, readers already know, through the narrator, that she is interested in seeing him. However, it remains only one's opinion as to whether or not Wentworth shares this sentiment. The narrator speculates: She would have liked to know how he felt about a meeting. Perhaps indifferent, if indifference could exist in such circumstances. Must be indifferent or reluctant. If he had wanted to see her again, he would not have to wait until then; he would do what she wouldn't believe and what she should have done in her place a long time ago... (Austen 51). Once again, readers are left in the dark about Wentworth's opinion on an encounter and must make their own judgments based on Anne's opinion on the matter. “He seemed [emphasis added] to have an interest in her,” (Austen 155), the narrator states at one point. However, nothing is definitive. Captain Wentworth seems to appear in various ways, and without a glimpse into his mind, all doors and interpretations must remain open. Readers can see examples of this throughout the text of the book, as there is a constant tone of uncertainty regarding the interpretation of Wentworth's true feelings or motivations. “Now, how were his feelings to be read?” (Austen 53) Anne wonders. Because of Austen's strategic "hiding" of Wentworth's voice, readers also ask themselves the same question. Captain Wentworth's lack of a distinct "inner voice" allows readers to do their own groundwork in determining his character, thus producing feelings of great anticipation. and suspense until Austen strategically chooses to reveal her true feelings by inserting a letter composed by Captain Wentworth addressed to Anne. This letter, placed at the novel's conclusion, expels all further speculative opinions about what he "might" think or feel, including those of the reader. Wentworth says: I can no longer listen in silence. I must speak to you with the means that are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I'm half agony and half hope. . . . I still offer myself to you with a heart even more yours. . . I have loved no one but you. . . . You alone brought me to Bath. I think and plan just for you. –Didn't you see this? Can you not understand my wishes? I hadn't even waited these ten days, I could have read your feelings, just as I think you have penetrated mine. . . (Austen 191) Through this letter readers receive the only overt declaration of Wentworth's inner feelings in the entire novel. Readers no longer have to draw conclusions from other characters' opinions or Wentworth's ambiguous actions; his inner voice is finally spoken. Wentworth's lines, "I can no longer sit in silence," are significant in highlighting the fact that throughout the novel his feelings were effectively silent, mere objects of speculation for external characters or for the narrator to engage in discussion about . Austen allows readers to also experience catharsis through this letter, as the build-up and tension over what Wentworth truly feels has finally been released. This final version of this accumulation of Wentworth's internal feelings helps demonstrate the “incandescence” that Woolf claims Austen possesses. Austen shows through this passage that she knows the desires of her audience. By giving readers only small glimpses of Wentworth's feelings until the end of the novel, he reserves judgment for the reader and produces a brilliant shared catharsis of both character and reader through the final expression of feelings in Wentworth's letter, achieving a complex connection and successful in his work, a moment when iReaders, like Anne, can breathe a shared sigh of relief in the expression with which you can't help but feel like "I knew it!". This effect parallels Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, as he too has the authorial ability to deflect character judgment towards readers, and thus create a similar buildup before providing a final authorial revelation of Cleopatra's character's true voice. Like Anna, Antony's love for the Egyptian princess Cleopatra is expressed fully and often, leaving readers with little doubt about his feelings and motivations in the work. However, as Austen does in Persuasion, Shakespeare also leaves the “true” voice of his protagonist, Cleopatra, somewhat absent throughout the play. Although he has to do this through a separate method due to the gender difference, Shakespeare uses Cleopatra's contradictory words and actions to "hide" her inner feelings, making it difficult for readers to make a definitive judgment on how she truly feels until the end. While Austen plays the character of Anne, Shakespeare also allows one character's feelings to be expressed through another's opinion. For example, with Cleopatra's true feelings and motivations unknown, Antony makes a statement of what he believes Cleopatra feels by stating, "I made these wars for Egypt and the queen, / Whose heart I thought I had, because she had mine… / Which while mine had annexed / A million more, now lost…” (Shakespeare IV.xiv. 18-22). These lines indicate Antony's faith in Cleopatra's love for him; however, readers, as they do in Persuasion, must carefully balance these words because they come from Antony's mouth and do not represent a real glimpse into Cleopatra's feelings: it is only Antony who "thinks" he has Cleopatra's heart as well try to balance Cleopatra's contradictory words and actions throughout the play to form an accurate description of her character. Alternating declarations of love for Antony, at various points in the play, Cleopatra utters lines that reflect Antony as a mere object for. she, at one point stating: “My music sounds distant, I will betray the tawny-finned fish. My bent hook will pierce their slimy jaws, and as I haul them up I will count each one an Anthony and say, “Aha! You are taken” (Shakespeare II.v. 13-17). Cleopatra, a woman who, on the outside, is Antony's lover, seems to refer to him as a simple object to be chased and recovered. These lines raise a question about Cleopatra's true feelings regarding her relationship with Antony, as her words and actions constantly change. Once again, although through a different method than Austen, readers of Antony and Cleopatra must decipher Cleopatra's true inner voice through a careful balancing of her contradictory words and actions. With this back and forth balancing of Cleopatra's words, readers are left at a crossroads at the play's conclusion, and just as Austen uses this tactic in her novel, Shakespeare makes one final closing statement to illuminate the true inner feelings of Cleopatra. Through Cleopatra's suicide, Shakespeare also gives readers a sense of catharsis in finally knowing his true feelings. Cleopatra, like Captain Wentworth, makes a final sensationalist declaration of her feelings at the play's conclusion, stating: I seem to hear Antony's calling. I see him get up to praise my noble act.……………….. Husband, I come! Now to that name my courage proves my title. The blow of death is like a lover's pinch, which hurts and is.