Posted by Barbara on May 08, 1997 at 18:11:31:
I've just been reading the part about Mary learning to ride and Fanny getting left home alone every day until the day Edmund and Julia come back from a dinner at Grants and find Fanny with a headache. Fanny has been out in the hot sun for much of the afternoon picking roses, then carrying them to Aunt Norris' house, then being made to go back to the house because she forgot to lock the door of the famous spare room. It seems that all of this was at the insistence of Aunt Norris, and the exertion and heat have brought on a headache. To top it off, she scolds Fanny for laying about on the sofa.
Why is this woman so mean to Fanny? Obviously she is not a nice person at all, but she is far nicer to Maria and Julia Bertram than to Fanny. The unmotivated hatred is a little hard for me to swallow. Perhaps she doesn't like Fanny's quiet ways, or is it because Fanny is the only one at Mansfield lower on the totem pole, so to speak, than Auntie herself?
I would be interested to hear what some of you think are the reasons for Aunt Norris to abuse and mistreat Fanny.
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