I have been reading ‘Persuasion’ and came across the following passages which I think accurately describe the ideal man according to Jane Austen. In ‘Persuasion’, there are three of these men who might qualify to some extent, Captain Frederick Wentworth, Captain Benwick, and Anne Elliot’s cousin William Walter Elliot, Esq. However Anne’s father Sir Walter Elliot is definitely not one of Jane Austen’s ideal men, being described by Jane as “a conceited, silly father” and as quite vain about his aristocratic title of baronet.

But even Jane’s heroine in ‘Persuasion’, Anne Elliot, can make mistakes in her evaluations of the men who are around her. Here are Anne Elliot’s first thoughts on her cousin William Walter Elliot, Esq. :

“[She] could not picture to herself a more agreeable or estimable man. Everything united in him; good understanding, correct opinions, knowledge of the world, and a warm heart. He had strong feelings of family-attachment and family honor, without pride or weakness; he lived with the liberality of a man of fortune, without display; he judged for himself in every essential, without defying public opinion in any point of worldly decorum. He was steady, observant, moderate, candid; never run away with by spirits or by selfishness, which fancied itself strong feeling; and yet, with a sensibility to what was amiable and lovely, and a value for all the felicities of domestic life, which characters of fancied enthusiasm and violent agitation seldom possess.”

However later Anne Elliot decides that Mr. Elliot is not the man for her:

“Mr. Elliot was rational, discreet, polished, – but he was not open. There was never any burst of feeling, any warmth of indignation or delight, at the evil or good of others. This, to Anne, was a decided imperfection.”

Only near the end does Anne Elliot find out the awful truth about Mr. Elliot from her friend Mrs. Smith:

“Mr. Elliot is a man without heart or conscience; a designing, wary, cold-blooded being, who thinks only of himself; who for his own interest or ease, would be guilty of any cruelty, or any treachery, that could be perpetrated without risk of his general character. He has no feeling for others. Those whom he has been the chief cause of leading into ruin, he can neglect and desert without the smallest compunction. He is totally beyond the reach of any sentiment of justice or compassion. Oh! He is black at heart, hollow and black.”

Anne Elliot’s first impressions of her cousin Mr. Elliot were badly wrong. But these three passages combined do give us an indication of the type of man who is best suited for Anne Elliot and probably Jane Austen. There is still one other man whom I mentioned above who is perfectly suited for Anne Elliot.

Later we get the opinion of Anne Elliot (with words provided by Jane Austen) on what good company is:

“My idea of good company, Mr. Elliot, is the company of clever, well-informed people who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company.”

Jane Austen was never shy about sharing her strong opinions, some very positive and some very negative, about her characters with her reader audience.