Episode 111 'You Pierce My Soul'! Reading The Most Romantic Moment In Jane Austen's Persuasion.

Today I will read a short excerpt from Jane Austen's book, Persuasion. This is the love letter that Captain Wentworth writes to Anne Elliot after he guesses that maybe they feel the same way. I'll also give you a little summary of the story. While it might be a little difficult for you to set on and read the book yourself, there are plenty of movie adaptations you can watch instead. I'll leave some trailers and links to various versions along with my opinions or tips about each below.  Probably the easiest version to watch is Netflix's recent adaptation. However, be warned, while this does stay fairly consistent to the story (and the letter), it is very definitely a MODERN adaptation! Some of the language and character adaptions are definitely NOT Jane Austen approved. However, it is easy to watch, pretty funny and I think pretty romantic too.  You can find the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz7HmgPJQak I hope you enjoy today's episode. See you next week. You can read along on Wikipedia 1995 Persuasion - One of the oldest versions of the book, this BBC movie is probably the closest to the book in story and in the actors chosen to represent the characters. You can watch the full 1995 BBC movie on YouTube, it has English Subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN7j7Ey-cM0 2007 Persuasion - This is my favourite version of the story. I think you can watch it on Daily Motion. I like all of the actors chosen and it sticks closely to the storyline. Vocabulary eking - from 'eke' to 'eke out', to extend the time of something longer than it should be vain - someone who is very confident in themselves and sure that they are the most handsome/beautiful person everybody wants a piece of him - idiom - commonly used when someone is very popular, also used in situations where people see someone is rich and everyone wants to convince them to give some of their money turn in her grave - idiom - often used when we're talking about someone who has died and consequently no longer has power over what happens to their assets or legacy. We would use it to say that the person would disagree with whatever you're doing. you pierce my soul - could mean 'you cause me pain' or 'I'm shocked by what you say' unjust - just as in justice or fairness, so he is recognising that he has not behaved in a just manner because he rushed to hate her but didn't really take her circumstances into account. inconstant - something that is not constant, so he is saying that even though they haven't seen each other he has never stopped loving her you sink your voice - sink as in become quieter, so he is saying she is whispering but he can still hear what she says consistency/constancy - This was a mistake I made in the reading. I said 'consistency' but the letter says 'constancy', in fact the meaning is the same, but 'constancy' is less common these days. undeviating - usually we use 'deviate' to mean 'leave a path' or go a different way than expected, so his heart is undeviating means it has stayed with her, yet another reminder that he still loves her return hither - 'hither' is used to mean 'here', he is saying he will return to this place. These days we rarely use 'hither', however it is usually used as 'come hither' when describing someone motioning to come towards you in a romantic or sexy way. brightest thing - I said it wasn't the brightest thing for him to hate her so much. In this case 'bright' means 'smart', so he wasn't very clever for not thinking of her circumstances and blaming her for saying no to marrying him when they were so young. More vocabulary on YouTube: https://youtu.be/bEMN9zVqc6k