 Austen scholars have studied the film 's intersection with class and social change . Carole M. Dole notes that , among the many productions of Austen 's work that appeared in the 1990s , Persuasion was the only one to " insistently draw attention to class issues " , and " provide striking visual testimony to the workings of the British class system " . The film , she adds , accomplishes this in part by focusing on the servants ' faces , gauging their negative reactions to events . Richards , too , finds Michell " visually more aware " of the lower classes , adding that the film 's inclusion of black servants alludes to the " colonial sources of wealth " supporting those superior in class and rank . Anne @-@ Marie Scholz writes that the film and Emma Thompson 's Sense and Sensibility both highlight the theme of class , but in different ways . Unlike Sense and Sensibility , Persuasion depicts general class divisions rather than just how the working class impacts the protagonists — the camera focuses on the faces and expressions of servants and working people , personifying them . 
