In both Persuasion by Jane Austen and Angela Carter's The Magic Toyshop, the past has significance both in terms of characterisation and of plot.
Persuasion focuses on a renewal of an old love between the main character, Anne Elliot, and Captain Frederick Wentworth. Eight years before Anne accepted a marriage proposal from Wentworth thinking of nothing but her love for him. However, she is persuaded by her friend and mentor not to marry him, her social class too high for it to be a 'suitable' match. Her former home is now let to Frederick Wentworth's sister and he becomes integrated into Anne's social circle, now a wealthy man eight years on.
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