that I forgot to make clear earlier in the above post. Yes, Fanny initially doesn't see Mansfield as a desirable place to stay, but she knows what would happen if she were to be sent home after having gone there--her family would view her as an ungrateful child who wasted a good opportunity afforded to her. Remember Fanny's family (except for William) essentially washes their hands of her--although Fanny fails to realize that until her return to Portsmouth. Still Aunt Norris instills the fear of being ungrateful for the opportunity bestowed upon her, most likely if they saw her as ungrateful, then so might her parents who "gave" her the opportunity in the first place.

And of course, not too long after she gets acquainted with Mansfield, it doesn't turn out to be half as bad as she thought--since it's where Edmund is, and it's primarily Edmund, but eventually the whole of Mansfield, she slowly comes to love and appreciate. So much so that the thought of being banished from it to "The White House" with Aunt Norris upsets Fanny, or the thought of never returning from Portsmouth does (as her early return would possibly lead to her being sent back with no expectation of coming back to Mansfield).

No, Fanny has to do what she can to survive and maintain the "good deal" she's been given at the beginning. She'll overcome every obstacle that threatens to take that deal away but she has to do it following the restrictions of character employed upon her by Sir Thomas and Aunt Norris, which gives her very little room to grow as a character, because she's too restricted and she can't imagine being able to do anything to overcome those restrictions. Fanny would make a better heroine later in her life, but not at 17 or 18. Perhaps if Jane had extended the story to show us life at Mansfield leading up to the marriage (because then there's possible room to show growth in Fanny via her relationship with Susan as touched upon earlier and show how Edmund came to love and propose to Fanny, but that might have been extending the novel too long after the main villains had been taken care of.