Posted by MaryC on July 12, 1997 at 11:54:54:
In reply to Re: Fanny lover here. Me, too! posted by Linda on July 09, 1997 at 20:42:43
] ] ] ] How far are you in the book, what is being discussed, and does anyone else here like Fanny?
] ] ] ] Julia
] ] I've just finished the book and I like Fanny a lot. She gets a sort of good "revenge" if you will at the end of the book when it is she who really turns out OK. The rest are all messed up.
]
] ________
] Elizabeth Bennet, Fanny is not!! But, we cannot all be lively and witty. Fanny is excellent in her own way. Maybe I like her so much because I, too, am a stick in the mud, but I think that I am okay.
] Fanny has strength of her convictions. Maybe she does not stand up for herself in many cases, but she is almost completely powerless until very late in the book. Even so, when she believes that something is wrong, there is no changing her.
] I think that many are so unforgiving of her submissiveness because they are judging her by late 20th century standards. I know, EB is also being judged by those standards and is admired, but her characteristics are timeless and universal, whereas Fanny's are somewhat dated.
]
] Sorry for the length. Hope this is not too garbled.
________
Have to respectfully disagree. Fanny's values are just as timeless as Elizabeth's, and they are alive and well in many of the places I have traveled and visited over the years (I have had the good fortune to live in a variety of places). I would venture to say the newspapers and TV news have served us ill, as they have obscured the good in people by blaring the evils and obscenities of life's worst and carefully hide the inspiring stories deep inside, or disguise them as special pieces. It is heart-warming to me to realize that people in Austen's books were much contrary to the characters in the novels of many of her contemparies as well. All those nefarious characters in Dickens, for instance. It appears our generation(s) continue to support the theory that those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it (poor paraphrase, sorry). Hooray for Fanny!
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