The Beauty of the Enneagram 9's Character Arc as Seen in Jane Austen's "Persuasion"

After Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion has to be my favorite Jane Austen novel. A sweetly melancholic story about a couple’s second chance at love, it was the last novel that Jane Austen ever completed. Persuasion has been turned into a film before, notably a 2007 BBC version that stayed very close to the original novel. 

Fifteen years later, in 2022, the Netflix film Persuasion came along and received decidedly mixed reviews. I understand why many critics disliked the film, especially its modern tone and style. Despite its flaws, however, I appreciated the movie as a riff on a Jane Austen novel I love. I also found it fascinating to consider the characters’ personalities through the lens of the Enneagram.

Dakota Johnson plays protagonist Anne Elliot in the film, and I enjoyed her performance. However, the way that “Dakota’s Anne” was scripted is vastly different from the way that “Austen’s Anne” was written, and the difference can be illuminated using the Enneagram. 

In Jane Austen’s Persuasion, the main character Anne Elliot is an Enneagram 9, the personality type known as the Peacemaker: she is eminently sweet, caring, and appears calm even in crises. However, a potential pitfall for Type 9s is going along with what others want to the detriment of their own desires. This flaw of being too easily persuaded creates the conflict that is the backdrop of the story: eight years before the action of the book begins, Anne Elliot is persuaded by a family friend to refuse an offer of marriage by Frederick Wentworth, the man she loves, and indeed never stops loving. Her character arc includes her personal growth in learning to stand her ground and make her own choices. 

In the film, Dakota’s Anne is given the same backstory but without the personality to make the conflict and personal growth believable. Dakota’s Anne strikes me more as an Enneagram 4, the Individualist, as she is very attuned to her own emotions, is apt to get stuck in melancholic nostalgia, and balks at conventional restraints. Dakota’s Anne also has a bitter, snarky side which is much more like the unhealthy side of Enneagram 4 than an Enneagram 9. 

Protagonists in novels and films have character arcs in which they usually experience personal growth. Supporting characters, however, are more likely to have a static (or stagnant) personality: their predictability provides the backdrop against which the growth of the main character can be clearly seen. Some of the notable supporting characters in the novel Persuasion that are portrayed similarly in the 2022 Netflix film are:

Sir Walter Elliot: An Enneagram Type 3, known as the Achiever, who is behaving in the unhealthy zone of his personality, Anne Elliot’s father Sir Walter Elliot is incredibly vain and consumed by his image and how others reflect on him. He is so concerned with keeping up appearances (a potential pitfall of Enneagram 3s) that he has gone deeply into debt and is forced to rent out his estate at the beginning of the story. Sir Walter Elliot brings much levity to the story by the absurdity of his devotion to his obsession: being admired by others.

Mary Elliot: As an Enneagram Type 4, the Individualist, who is behaving in the unhealthy zone of her personality and is the Social subtype (the most outwardly and dramatically suffering subtype), Anne’s younger sister Mary wants to get attention for how much she suffers. She complains nonstop, suspects that everyone dislikes her, and can’t stand being left out of things, even activities she hates such as long walks. Like her father, she is supremely self-focused, but Sir Walter Elliot, as an Enneagram 3, is focused on his image while, as an Enneagram 4, Mary is focused on her suffering and how she lacks what other people have. By being so over-the-top as a dramatically unhealthy Enneagram 4, she is one of the humorous highlights of the story.

Louisa Musgrove and James Benwick: An Enneagram Type 7, known as the Enthusiast, Louisa is outgoing, joyful, and daring. As a Type 7 in average space (with some healthy and some unhealthy characteristics), Louisa's risk-taking and playful nature unfortunately lead to a serious accident in which she sustains a head injury. During her recovery, she matures and falls in love with James Benwick, a morose and poetry-loving Enneagram Type 4 (Individualist) with a strong 5 wing who is her opposite in many ways. James’ emotional empathy makes him a great comfort to Louisa while she is bedridden, and her joyful nature buoys his spirits. 

Although the 2022 Netflix film Persuasion did not feature an Enneagram 9, Jane Austen’s novel Persuasion provides beautiful insight into the experience of being an Enneagram 9. At the beginning of the story, Anne Elliott avoids conflict with her mentor by not marrying Frederick Wentworth. However, eight years later, Anne deeply regrets her decision, and when Mr. Wentworth re-enters her life and she’s given a second chance at love, she boldly embraces it and starts living the life that she wants to live. When Peacemakers exemplify the Enneagram 9’s character arc of growing from resignation to right action, it’s wondrous to behold.

If you'd like to read Persuasion for the first or fiftieth time, this beautiful edition would look lovely on your bookshelf. You might also like to check out other fictional Stories Featuring an Enneagram 9 or nonfiction books specifically curated For the Enneagram 9's Growth Journey.