“You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope.”
- Source
- Persuasion
- Date
- 1818
- Attribution
- Source identified
- Voice / speaker
- Fictional character · Captain Frederick Wentworth (letter)
What does this quote mean?
Wentworth’s letter holds pain and possibility together: the renewed declaration is intense because he still does not know whether Anne’s feelings have survived their long separation.
Where does it come from?
Persuasion, Chapter XXIII, Project Gutenberg #105. Captain Frederick Wentworth writes the line to Anne Elliot while listening to her conversation with Captain Harville; the letter is signed “F. W.” and is fictional character writing, not Austen autobiography.
Who voices the line?
Fictional character · Captain Frederick Wentworth (letter). Wentworth writes this directly to Anne Elliot in Chapter XXIII while listening to her conversation with Captain Harville.
The source author and the local speaker can be different, especially in fiction, drama, dialogue and poetry.
How should this attribution be read?
This wording is connected with the named source shown above. Translations and editions can vary, so consult the source note when exact wording matters.