Mansfield Park- a bunch of questions
Posted by Bonny on May 13, 1998 at 05:29:51:
Referring to some of the posts below, like "The man who could come to appreciate Fanny enough to propose can't have been all bad ..", and rereading this book at the moment I want to know what it is in Fanny and Edmund that the Crawfords yearn for. Perhaps yearn is not the best word, but what is it, that they come to desire the Fanny/Edmund type, not just opposite to them but against their characters, attitudes and values. Mary Crawford first likes Edmund against her will (she knew it was 'her way' to like the older brother, Tom, the heir), and Henry's even more interesting, there are lines like he had moral taste enough to value such and such in Fanny, and (it's driving me crazy I dont have the book to quote from)the suggestion that theres something within him that responds to her. Do we buy that the Crawfords are clever, and naturally good but tainted by the vices of their aunt and uncle, "the effect of education"? (Willoughby too seems to have been tainted by his education, doesn't Elinor reflect on this in S&S?)I recently had a lecture that interpreted Henry as a Vice figure (from Elizabethan -and before?- drama), and the scene where he tempts Julia into the wilderness at Sotheton (she didn't need much enticing) as a replaying of "the fall". It was quite a fun lecture, even suggesting that the characters play out types in a moral allegory: Lady Bertram, sloth; Aunt Norris, avarice; MAria Bertram, lust;Julia, envy;Dr Grant, gluttony; etc, with Edmund as an everyman figure, and Fanny of course as "the pearl of great Price". Sorry to go on so, and sorry to break into the juvenalia discussion, but Mansfield Park anyone? Any thoughts on the Crawfords/Fanny and Edmund?
- How startling life can be! gkb 23:55:52 5/13/98
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- Sir Thomas's sin Bonny 05:27:20 5/15/98
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- Pride, of course--and perhaps a dash of Prejudice? gkb 18:40:39 5/17/98
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- Pride, of course--and perhaps a dash of Prejudice? gkb 18:40:39 5/17/98
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- Sir Thomas's sin Bonny 05:27:20 5/15/98
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- I think it's pretty simple Laraine 16:17:23 5/13/98
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- Your comments are right on target! Lea 11:44:06 5/14/98
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- Lea, Laraine, Bonny 05:18:05 5/15/98
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- Choosing to do right... Lea 16:38:29 5/17/98
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- Moral standards Eril 11:44:40 5/22/98
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- I like Jane's books for the same reasons... Lea 21:54:13 5/22/98
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- I like Jane's books for the same reasons... Lea 21:54:13 5/22/98
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- Moral standards Eril 11:44:40 5/22/98
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- If I may butt in... Constanza 10:55:38 5/15/98
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- personal responsibility Janette K 16:02:07 5/30/98
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- Thanks for your insights Bonny 09:45:54 5/16/98
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- Fanny's horse Xenia 15:09:29 5/15/98
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- personal responsibility Janette K 16:02:07 5/30/98
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- Choosing to do right... Lea 16:38:29 5/17/98
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- Gosh! Laraine 15:58:43 5/14/98
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- Lea, Laraine, Bonny 05:18:05 5/15/98
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- Your comments are right on target! Lea 11:44:06 5/14/98
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