A Vindication of Fanny Price

[Note: All links from Wiki represent one reading of Austen.  Pick up the books for the full story!]

Two smart, single young women, especially two well-read smart, single young women, will always have  one entertainment and consolation at their fingertips: Jane Austen.  I discovered this during my first few days at the College and it holds true for Shelly and me in Steubenville.  She is seeking a Mr. Darcy.  I don't have a favorite hero, but I am Eleanor Dashwood.  Shelly believes that Austen comes second to the Bible in terms of truth (there may be some exaggeration here; I have not heard those exact words from her) and was not content until she fixed upon the hero right for me.  Her choice: Edmund Bertram.

Edmund is (arguably, but this is how I would argue) Austen's most developed hero and a quality young man.  However, if he is my perfect match, that would make me Fanny Prince.

Quick literary lesson for those who do not immediately understand the hilarity of that statement.  Fanny Price and Edmund Bertram are from Austen's Mansfield Park.  Fanny is considered Austen's "problem heroine" because she appears a weaker woman without the feminine wit and strength of personality that characterizes Austen's heroines.  Edmund guides and develops Fanny throughout the novel, forming her taste and opinions.

I hope you are laughing now.  When I offered this view to Shelly, she contested it, claiming that Fanny is one of Austen's stronger heroines and that I was not doing justice to her moral fiber.  So I picked up Mansfield Park once more to reexamine Fanny Price.

I am about to write three words that are rare for me, especially concerning a well-formed opinion: I stand corrected.  While Fanny's physical weakness and her timidity make her appear a weak character, I agree with Shelly's points about her moral fiber.  Despite her natural meekness and desire to please, she stands up for what is right, even in the face of opposition from those she loves most.  Although given the chance to vindicate herself at the expense of others, she chooses delicacy and charity.  She bears pain herself, rather than seeing those she loves suffer.  She lacks the almost modern edge that attracts smart, single young women nowadays to Austen's heroines; her strength is quiet, gentle, and unimposing.  Yet it is strength.

As for Edmund, I can see the point Shelly was trying to make.  I don't have to be Fanny Price (thank heavens!) to be suited for a man who will draw out my emotions and those quiet truths I rarely express.  Because, yes, in spite of my loud opinionatedness, plenty of those exist.