Character defences never get old or outdated

Dogmatic opinion of the day: modern & not-so-modern failures to appreciate Fanny Price's character are entirely and always due to illiteracy, sexism, and/or general bias and lack of reading comprehension.

"a monster of complacency and pride, who, under a cloak of cringing self-abasement, dominates and gives meaning to the novel" - Kingsley Amis

"I have looked up this girl's dossier and am horrified at what I find. Not only a Christian, but such a Christian -- a vile, sneaking, simpering, demure, monosyllabic, mouselike, watery, insignificant, virginal, bread-and-butter miss! The little brute! She makes me vomit. She stinks and scalds through the very pages of the dossier. It drives me mad, the way the world has worsened. We'd have had her to the arena in the old days. That's what her sort is made for. Not that she'd do much good there, either. A two-faced little cheat (I know the sort) who looks as if she'd faint at the sight of blood, and then dies with a smile. A cheat every way. Looks as if butter wouldn't melt in her mouth, [...a] Filthy, insipid little prude -- and yet ready to fall into this booby's arms like any other breeding animal." - CS Lewis, Screwtape Letters, context not quite the same thing (source Pemberley)

What does Fanny Price do that's allegedly so terrible?

• Believes it's good for a family and their servants to all worship together. I couldn't disagree more - but Fanny is not in the least being hypocritical. She would worship herself and believes it is good for everyone. She has a point, relative to that era: communal gatherings can indeed be good for everyone.


• Tells Edmund that Mary Crawford wrote wishing for Tom's death - after Edmund has already been disillusioned about Mary. Previously, Fanny carefully restrained herself against criticising Mary, and on any number of occasions stops herself from being a tell-tale, such as against Mrs Norris or against Maria and Julia's conduct with Henry.


• Is willing for Maria Bertram to be exiled from her family and forced into retirement with Mrs Norris after her running away with Henry caused societal scandal. Again, this is in keeping with the standards of the times, and Fanny's standard is far from a double standard. She finds Henry's conduct equally repulsive, even though he does not receive nearly as severe a punishment. Maria is supported by her family; she won't be received by them.


• Disapproves of the play despite appreciating some of the acting: because the play is being done behind Sir Thomas' back, and because it's is a thiny veiled excuse for Henry to selfishly exploit Maria's and Julia's emotions. Also, Lover's Vows is not a very uplifting play nor strong in literary merit - let's settle for rating it as about as well written as Twilight, slightly more feminist relative to its time, and primarily relevant today as a historical document.


• Dares to hold ethical and religious standards that she has thought through herself.


• Refuses to marry a man she does not love and who holds contrary values and goals to her own, in spite of incredible familial pressure brought to bear on her.


• Refuses to sacrifice her hopes and dreams in order to redeem a bad boy.


• A two-faced agenda? We spend most of the novel inside Fanny's head. She tries to live all her standards and she's reluctant to condemn or attack anyone. An utterly unsubstantiated and completely false charge, referable to the above-mentioned lack of reading comprehension.

That's it.

Fanny is an introvert: timid, shy, and insecure. This is partly because of the Bertrams and Aunt Norris raising her as inferior to her cousins and teaching her that her wishes are not worthy of consideration. Edmund is the only one to show her kindness. How Fanny turned out is no surprise.

And were Fanny more a Scarlett O'Hara or Anne of Green Gables sort, Mrs Norris would have eaten her alive.( Read more... )