502 Persuasion by Jane Austen | My Last Book with Stephen Dobranski
The History of Literature
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The Double Edged Sword of Persuasion
Jane Austen's Persuasion is a double edged sword. It's better than forcing someone to do something against their will, Jesus says. Iago in Shakespeare's "Iago" manipulates everyone under cover of seeming reliable and sincere and trustworthy. Othello is so twisted that he thinks Desdemona's sleeping breath sweetens itself a sign of her purity and innocence. He rejects it as a false sign as if that's the cunning and guile he must resist.
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