Sir Walter Elliot
Sir Walter Elliot, of Kellynch Hall in Somersetshire, is a man defined by vanity of person and of situation. At fifty-four, he remains a remarkably handsome man, and his self-regard is such that he considers the blessing of beauty inferior only to the blessing of a baronetcy. His favourite volume is the Baronetage, where he can read his own history with unfailing interest, and he has improved the printed entry by adding the date of his daughter Mary's marriage and the day of his wife's death. Vanity is the beginning and the end of his character; he is a conceited, silly father whose good looks and rank alone earned him a wife of far superior character, the late Lady Elliot, an excellent woman who for seventeen years humoured, softened, or concealed his failings.
Financial Ruin and the Letting of Kellynch Hall
Sir Walter's financial distress forms the first crisis of the novel. After Lady Elliot's death, he constantly exceeded his income, and by the summer of 1814 he is growing dreadfully in debt. He has mortgaged as far as he has the power, but he will never condescend to sell any part of the Kellynch estate; he would never disgrace his name so far. His agent, Mr Shepherd, and his friend Lady Russell are called to advise, but Sir Walter rejects Lady Russell's plans of retrenchment as unbearable: "What! every comfort of life knocked off! Journeys, London, servants, horses, table—contractions and restrictions every where!" He declares he would sooner quit Kellynch Hall at once than remain on such disgraceful terms. The hint is taken up, and after a few days of indecision, the family resolves to move to Bath. Sir Walter spurns the idea of advertising the house; it is only on the supposition of being spontaneously solicited by some most unexceptionable applicant, on his own terms, and as a great favour, that he will let it at all. When Admiral Croft applies, Sir Walter is talked into allowing Mr Shepherd to proceed, though he must ever look with an evil eye on anyone intending to inhabit that house. His vanity is soothed by the thought that "I have let my house to Admiral Croft" sounds extremely well, and that an admiral can never make a baronet look small.
Prejudice and Social Standing
Sir Walter's social prejudices are most sharply displayed in his contempt for the navy. He declares the profession offensive on two grounds: first, as bringing persons of obscure birth into undue distinction, and second, as cutting up a man's youth and vigour most horribly. He recounts meeting Admiral Baldwin, whom he took for sixty but who was only forty, as a wretched example of what a sea-faring life can do. When Anne speaks in favour of the navy, saying sailors work hard enough for their comforts, Sir Walter dismisses the profession as having its utility but adds, "I should be sorry to see any friend of mine belonging to it." His disdain extends to individuals: he remembers Mr Wentworth, the former curate of Monkford, as "nobody, I remember; quite unconnected; nothing to do with the Strafford family." This prejudice directly affects his daughter Anne's life, for when Captain Frederick Wentworth, the curate's brother, seeks to marry Anne eight years before the novel opens, Sir Walter gives his consent "all the negative of great astonishment, great coldness, great silence, and a professed resolution of doing nothing for his daughter." He thinks it a very degrading alliance.
Family Relations and Vanity
Sir Walter's vanity governs his relationships with his three daughters. Elizabeth, his eldest, is very handsome and very like himself, and her influence has always been great; they have gone on together most happily. Mary, the youngest, has acquired a little artificial importance by becoming Mrs Charles Musgrove. But Anne, with an elegance of mind and sweetness of character, is nobody with either father or sister; her word has no weight, her convenience is always to give way—she is only Anne. Sir Walter finds little to admire in Anne's delicate features and mild dark eyes, so totally different from his own, and he has no hope of ever reading her name in any other page of his favourite work. He prides himself on remaining single for his dear daughters' sake, though he has met with one or two private disappointments in very unreasonable applications. His vanity also makes him vulnerable to the flattery of Mrs Clay, a clever young woman whom Elizabeth has taken up as a companion. Anne is sensible that results the most serious to his family from the intimacy are more than possible, and she tries to warn Elizabeth, but Elizabeth indignantly rejects the suspicion, pointing out that Sir Walter constantly makes severe remarks on Mrs Clay's freckles and projecting tooth. Sir Walter himself, when Anne returns to Bath, compliments her on her improved looks and recommends the constant use of Gowland, which he says has carried away Mrs Clay's freckles.
Life in Bath and the Reconciliation with Mr Elliot
In Bath, Sir Walter takes a very good house in Camden Place, a lofty dignified situation such as becomes a man of consequence. He and Elizabeth are delighted with their new residence, boasting of their drawing-rooms and the superiority of their furniture. They are also delighted by the return of Mr William Walter Elliot, the heir presumptive, who had previously slighted the family. Mr Elliot explains away his past neglect, and Sir Walter is soon describing him with approval, noting his gentlemanlike appearance, his air of elegance and fashion, his good shaped face, and his sensible eye, though he laments his being very much under-hung. Sir Walter's vanity is further gratified by the renewal of connection with the Dowager Viscountess Dalrymple and her daughter, whom he proudly refers to as "our cousins." He writes a fine letter of explanation to them, and when they respond, he visits them in Laura Place. Anne is ashamed of the agitation this creates, but Sir Walter and Elizabeth are assiduous in pushing their good fortune.
Final Disposition and Character
When Captain Wentworth, now a wealthy and distinguished naval officer, proposes to Anne, Sir Walter makes no objection. He is very much struck by Captain Wentworth's personal claims and feels that his superiority of appearance may be not unfairly balanced against Anne's superiority of rank. Assisted by the well-sounding name, Sir Walter at last prepares his pen, with a very good grace, for the insertion of the marriage in the volume of honour. The novel's final revelation of Sir Walter's character comes through Mr Elliot's letter, which describes him as "quite fool enough" to marry again, and through the discovery that Mrs Clay, after being prevented from becoming Lady Elliot, has established herself under Mr Elliot's protection in London. Sir Walter and Elizabeth are shocked and mortified by the loss of their companion and the discovery of her deception, but they have their great cousins to resort to for comfort. Sir Walter remains, to the end, a figure of vanity and self-regard, whose actions—though often foolish and hurtful—ultimately do not prevent the happiness of his most deserving daughter.
