Ramya makes excellent points and I think Fanny is in a position to understand the potential ramifications from Mrs. Norris if she were to speak out or rebel in some way. I feel to understand Fanny’s behavior it is important to consider her status, principles and what was the expected and proper behavior of a young woman of her age in that era. I don’t see a reason to assume Fanny’s only reason for silence is simply a lack of courage and therefore despisable.

Rather than a doormat I see Fanny as a survivor in a situation which in some ways, at some points must have seemed hopeless. Fanny survived being taken from her home and family, thrust into an alien world of strangers she had no part in choosing and was not—could not have been prepared for. She has weathered her family’s (but one) abandonment and the neglect and abuse of her relations (but one) at MP for eight years because she possesses great inner strength.