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| Sir Walter is "only" a baronet. |
In Persuasion, Will Elliot desires to marry "up."
Austen gives us little other information about Will Elliot's motivations for suddenly reconnecting with the Elliot family. Although movie versions
often like to make him poor--he wants to preserve his inheritance for
its monetary value--this is not accurate and does not make much sense.
Mr. Elliot is well-off. But even if he needed to marry for money (just
money), the Elliot sisters are not his best choice. Although the
Kellynch property is better than nothing, it is heavily encumbered. And
neither Anne nor Elizabeth can bring him a substantial dowry--more than
the Bennet sisters, of course, but not enough to attract fortune
hunters.
In other words, if Mr. Elliot's motivation was purely monetary, he could
do better elsewhere. Austen seems to be completely aware of this; she
heavily implies several things: (1) Mr. Elliot is honestly attracted to
Anne; (2) Mr. Elliot is interested in the benefits that pure rank can
bring him.
For what Sir Walter offers is a title. He is less well-bred than Darcy, far less wealthy, and lacking in any kind of commonsense. But he can lay claim to nobility (though he isn't really). As a baronet, he has a hereditary rank.
Which brings me to the point that in Austen's England, rank still
meant something.
It still does now too, of course, but these days it is closer to the
equivalent of Hollywood celebrity-dom than to anything with real teeth.
But in Austen's day, although the middle-class was making astonishing inroads regarding its own sense of privilege, rank still
ensured a strong degree of sycophancy (if not quite as much as Sir
Walter imagines).
Consider that in Arthur Conan Doyle's Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,
written almost 100 years later than Austen, Holmes is still a
little out of his depth when dealing with royalty. Holmes is THE
quintessential middle class hero, and Conan Doyle clearly saw him that way.
And yet even Holmes kowtows a bit to a noble name. (The fact that he doesn't kowtow more indicates his egalitarian nature.)
It would be another 100 years before a Holmes would casually and unrepentantly enter Buckingham Palace stark naked.
What is so extraordinary about Austen, again, is that she is completely aware of
this issue; even while she drives home the non-rank (in terms of
nobility) merits of deserving seamen, she recognizes that her world is
dictated by expressions of rank. At no point does Austen
try to sell the reader on everybody-is-just-the-same-how-dare-anybody-say-differently pretense. In
her lifetime, power, rank, nepotism, and moving-up-the-ladder are
practically one's purpose in life (a history of Austen's family reads
rather like the history of a bunch of people constantly on the make).
Mr. Elliot is not quite in the same position--he has more options. But the allure of marrying for rank would be as great for him as the allure--for the Bennet sisters--of marrying for comfort and security.
In Persuadable, I address why Mr. Elliot might change his mind about the benefits of Sir Walter's title--and company.
