I saw a comment about Fanny that floored me because it made so much sense. On a thread about polarizing characters, User appletreerose said, “with Austen’s male characters, she often opposes a charming louse with a good man who doesn’t easily catch the eye. I think Mansfield Park is the only time she does this with the women. Fanny Price has a lot in common with Edward Ferrars…unassuming and tending to put others first, but totally indomitable on matters of principle.”
I have to admit, I am one of those that struggles to see Fanny’s appeal when I’m reading Mansfield Park. She has some great moments… but that book is not one I pick up often like Persuasion or Emma. Part of the blame might lie with Edmund who I also like but don’t have strong feelings for Either way, my feelings about Mansfield Park are a bit lackluster given my rabid love of most things Jane Austen.
This idea though, that Fanny is the less-flashy, real-substance love interest being contrasted with Mary Crawford’s superficiality struck me over the top of the head (even though it is very obvious, and I myself have contrasted them at times.)
It is a trope I love when it is applied to the hero. Mr. Darcy contrasted with Lieutenant Wickham, Mr. Knightley contrasted with Frank Churchill, Colonel Brandon contrasted with Willoughby, etc. I can eat some of that ice cream any day of the week, you know?
So, how did I not apply it to Fanny? I suspect there’s some cultural gender bias at play, in that I demand lively and charming qualities from a woman in a way that I don’t from a man. But, I don’t think that’s the main reason.
In a way, Mansfield Park is entirely flipped from Pride and Prejudice or Emma. Instead of a man realizing that he is in love with a woman and us waiting until she realizes she loves him, we have the opposite. Fanny knows she is in love with Edmund and we must wait for him to realize that he loves her. That makes Edmund take the usual spot of the “heroine” in our journey. He is the one who is faced with several choices and must choose substance over charm. Looking at Fanny like that, I suddenly like her a thousand times more.
I suppose I’ve only focused on the other comparison between Edmund and Henry Crawford, which never gripped me. We never really think Fanny will go for Crawford, so there is no drama or angst over that part–at least not for me. But with Edmund and Mary… Yikes, that boy is ready to propose! If I look at the romance quadrangle as Edmund’s story, it makes more sense to me.
It also explains the ending. It always felt so strange and incomplete that Fanny and Edmund’s romance is relegated to barely a paragraph at the end. (Honestly, it still does; I’m a little bitter!) But it makes a smidge more sense if I see it as Edmund’s story.
Now, my brain immediately pokes me and says, “You’ve pointed out the same progression as Persuasion! What’s the big deal? Anne loves Captain Wentworth and we have to wait for him to realize he loves her, too. Same!” Somehow though, Persuasion feels far more Anne’s story than Wentworth’s. Perhaps it’s because she gets to take some vital steps to show her confidence, maturity, and interest in him. Perhaps we just get more internality and are more “in her head” than we are with Fanny.
Because Edmund is so talkative with Fanny, we actually get more of his internality in Mansfield Park. Or at least an argument could be made in that direction.
Anyway, I wanted to share my (probably obvious) realization with you all before I go re-read Mansfield Park with Edmund as the heroine. 🙂 Wish me luck!
Corrie
P.S. I have published my Highbury Variation as a digital boxset! Check it out if you haven’t gotten to read them yet.
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