@dykethorin anne elliot drawing up a retrenchment plan (that gets refused) vs margaret hale having to do emotional labor for her father by telling her mother about the move. Anne Elliot having to stay behind w her “ailing” sister and babysit her kids bc nobody else will vs Margaret Hale being the one who takes her mother’s illness seriously and handles the doctor and everything bc her dad wants to ignore it. Anne Elliot hanging out w Mrs. Smith and getting derision from her family vs Margaret Hale becoming attached to Milton and its people and having her aunt and cousin get all swoony and aflutter about how Yucky it is.
(bonus round: Wentworth pulling a screaming toddler off of Anne’s back vs Thornton getting the murder investigation dropped to protect Margaret)
!!! Gd you’re right… I was definitely thinking of how they both and up being the ones to shoulder most of the responsibility in their families despite that not being their traditional role; Margaret shouldn’t be the one breaking the news to her mother that they’re leaving Helstone, organizing the entire move, house hunting, taking charge of caring for her mother when she gets ill etc, and Anne is the second daughter doing the things the eldest Elizabeth should have, like writing up a budget and visiting the people who live on their land before they leave! I hadn’t even thought of the connection between Anne and Mrs Smith vs Margaret and the Higgins and their neighbors. Nevermind both Wentworth and Thornton both being the type to pay attention to the needs of the women they love even when they pretend they’re over them; Wentworth asking his sister to take Anne in the phaeton because he sees she’s tired after their walk and Thornton covering Margaret’s lie after a guy DIED are obviously on different scales but considering the scope of the action in Persuasion is on a smaller scale than North and South, it still tracks. Something something tropes of an underappreciated young woman with few prospects shouldering responsibilities bc the people in charge are incompetent, who is loved by an equally responsible man who admires her capability and does what he can to help her despite his conviction that loving her is hopeless something something
honestly i would even pick out the “underappreciated young woman with few prospects” thing and lay that out as another parallel because the fact is that both of them are actually almost in good positions society-wise, if not for their fathers! Like Anne is the daughter of a baronet, she’s as high as you can get without being actual aristocracy, and the only thing limiting her prospects is her father’s pissing away their fortune (and i would make an argument that her father’s view of her as the boring ugly daughter definitely doesn’t HELP anything, since he clearly only thinks Elizabeth is worthy of anyone’s attention. Even a wealthy Anne would still be neglected by her father and that neglect has an impact by itself).
Meanwhile, we know that Margaret is a catch because Lennox offers for her basically immediately. The comfortable, well educated daughter of a vicar is in a good position, especially if her father HAD taken that better living instead of leaving the church.
Like at the end of the day it comes down to both of them stepping up and being the adults in their families bc their parents have failed! And they both do this without complaint and without seeing it as much of a hardship and it’s very, like… 19th century english platonic ideal of a woman who does absolutely everything for her family with a serene angelic countenance and never has a cross word, but the criticism is in the fact that their families don’t appreciate it and Anne ends up worn down and neglected, while Margaret has a whole-ass burnout depressive episode after her father dies.
(and, obviously, the Statement evident in “Thornton and Wentworth are loved by these women ONLY because they have shown they are willing to pay attention and care and give back to them instead of depending on them for everything.” Like it Matters that Wentworth gets her the carriage (because who else is noticing that she’s tired?) And it Matters that Thornton shows up with fruit baskets for her sickly mother (because who’s giving her the kindness she habitually gives to others?) And if you want stakes then, like, there’s the entire Louisa scene where Wentworth is like “everyone shut up and listen to Anne, if anyone can handle this it’s her” and advocates for her competence and everything. Or it’s after they’re married, but he does do whatever arcane business wizardry to get Mrs. Smith’s money back from whatever Mr. Elliot had done with it).
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