In general, the novel’s mood is consistently somber and serious. In Chapter 13, the mood shifts after the drama of Louisa Musgrove’s sudden accident, becoming foreboding and bleak:
An hour’s complete leisure for such reflections as these, on a dark November day, a small thick rain almost blotting out the very few objects ever to be discerned from the windows, was enough to make the sound of Lady Russell’s carriage extremely welcome [...] [Anne] could not quit the Mansion House, or look an adieu to the Cottage, with its black, dripping and comfortless veranda, or even notice through the misty glasses the last humble tenements of the village, without a saddened heart.
Anne views the surrounding landscape as dark and murky. Moreover, the presence of rain in the scene reflects the melancholy and concern Anne feels for Louisa after her nearly fatal accident.
In Chapter 20, towards the end of the novel, the mood shifts and becomes romantic and lighthearted as Anne realizes her romantic feelings for Captain Frederick Wentworth are reciprocal:
Anne saw nothing, thought of nothing of the brilliancy of the room. Her happiness was from within. Her eyes were bright and her cheeks glowed; but she knew nothing about it. She was thinking only of the last half hour, and as they passed to their seats, her mind took a hasty range over it.
There is a brightness and lightness to Anne’s surroundings and Anne herself, and this reflects her newfound state of happiness. This rare shift in mood is in keeping with the novel’s overall sympathy towards Anne. Throughout the novel, Anne struggles against societal expectations and her own personal conviction as to whom she should marry. Although Lady Russell persuades Anne against marrying Captain Frederick Wentworth, in an ironic twist of fate, Anne rekindles her romance and ends up marrying him after all, making for a happy ending that uplifts the overall mood of the novel's conclusion.
In general, the novel’s mood is consistently somber and serious. In Chapter 13, the mood shifts after the drama of Louisa Musgrove’s sudden accident, becoming foreboding and bleak:
An hour’s complete leisure for such reflections as these, on a dark November day, a small thick rain almost blotting out the very few objects ever to be discerned from the windows, was enough to make the sound of Lady Russell’s carriage extremely welcome [...] [Anne] could not quit the Mansion House, or look an adieu to the Cottage, with its black, dripping and comfortless veranda, or even notice through the misty glasses the last humble tenements of the village, without a saddened heart.
Anne views the surrounding landscape as dark and murky. Moreover, the presence of rain in the scene reflects the melancholy and concern Anne feels for Louisa after her nearly fatal accident.
In Chapter 20, towards the end of the novel, the mood shifts and becomes romantic and lighthearted as Anne realizes her romantic feelings for Captain Frederick Wentworth are reciprocal:
Anne saw nothing, thought of nothing of the brilliancy of the room. Her happiness was from within. Her eyes were bright and her cheeks glowed; but she knew nothing about it. She was thinking only of the last half hour, and as they passed to their seats, her mind took a hasty range over it.
There is a brightness and lightness to Anne’s surroundings and Anne herself, and this reflects her newfound state of happiness. This rare shift in mood is in keeping with the novel’s overall sympathy towards Anne. Throughout the novel, Anne struggles against societal expectations and her own personal conviction as to whom she should marry. Although Lady Russell persuades Anne against marrying Captain Frederick Wentworth, in an ironic twist of fate, Anne rekindles her romance and ends up marrying him after all, making for a happy ending that uplifts the overall mood of the novel's conclusion.
