"Now, how were his sentiments to be read?": Imagination and Discernment in Austen's Persuasion

Abstract:The claim is often made that the novel can be an important resource in developing the moral capacities of readers, but how might this work? What would such an education look like for the reader of a novel? This paper explores these questions by working through a specific novel, Jane Austen's Persuasion, and examining how it accomplishes these goals. I argue that Persuasion dramatizes the workings of moral imagination, and I show how this dramatization can affect the reader by refining her imagination and making her more discerning of moral qualities.