Poll: how many people actually want Fanny to pick Henry?

I read the book a long time ago, so, I don't remember the details much. But I remember liking Henry a lot more than Edmund and really believed Henry loves Fanny. It might be a conquest thing at first, but he truly loves her later and tried to change for her. So, the ending twist of Henry eloping with Maria was a dissapointment for me. I wanted Henry to end up with Fanny.

As for Edmund. Yeah, he is nice to Fanny but like some other people said, he never stood up for Fanny. He is only nice to Fanny when he is unoccupied and has nothing better to do. Like the horse issue. He totally forgets about his promise to Fanny and just go riding with Mary!!!

I think I will read Mansfield Park again and see whether I will look at the story differently now that I'm older.

I never wanted Fanny to choose Henry; I did want Edmund to come to his senses sooner than he did.

However, if you closely read the epilogue of the book, it explains somewhat the reasons why, in Austen's opinion, things had to work out as they did. According to the epilogue, Austen more than suggests that given time, Fanny would've accepted Henry, that Fanny "must have been [Henry's] reward" but (paraphrasing somewhat)"spoilt by too early an independence" and the lack of discipline in his uncle's household, Henry was, alas, incorrigible. Like Willoughby at the epilogue of S&S, he might always regret the woman, but was complacent enough in his exertions to live without her.

A great scene in the film "Glory" talks about people wanting "to get clean." Henry may have wanted to get clean, but ultimately, he was comfortable enough in mud.

Finally, the novel's premise would seem to be, as Sir Thomas reflects in the epilogue, the importance of "early struggle" and suffering in learning to endure and in the formation of true character - the contrast obvious between Fanny and William, who have indeed struggled, and Mary and Henry, who have more or less lace-handkerchiefed their way through life.

I would have picked Tom. A wild, political rebel wins over a stuffy clergyman any day.

Enter the Fiery Tybalt

I know this and old thread but I wish she had chosen Henry. Edmund
is so boring. It's a wonder that Henry's sister wanted him. He does
not have the courage to defied his father and tell him to his face that he is
in love with Fanny. At least not in the movie, Henry on the other hand. is full
of wit. He does not mind following Fanny home or eating the garbage her mother serves for food now that love.

Here are some things to consider:
1.Fanny was nothing like Elizabeth Bennet, Emma, or the Dashwood girls. She had no self confidence, completely introverted,had anxiety and discomforts over everything! Let's face it she was downright emo and just wouldn't stand up and be real! I mean, hello, you want a fire in your school room---ask for one, don't wait around for Prince Charming to do it for you!

2. Edmund was a dolt! If he cares so much about Fanny, then why not tell his father she is being mistreated! Why not stand up for her! and once Mary Crawford comes around, Edmund pretty much ignores Fanny. She is madly in love with him, but he doesn't even notice her when someone else is around.

3. What could Henry Crawford possibly get from being with Fanny!? If he was so much a cad and rake then he could only have had but two motives when it comes to women: A) Marry the rich ones for their money, and B)Charm and woe all the others into bed.
Now one might debate that Crawford wanted to bed Fanny then, bu8t in considering the atmosphere of that time period, that intrepretation of Crawford is not plausible. In the early 19th cent. an engagement was just as binding as marriage (minus the sexual part) and so to break an engagement would be almost as socially damaging as divorce. So if Crawford only meant to take Fanny to bed, have his thrills with her and leave when was finished, then why would he not try to do as much? Why would he seek to marry her and be polite and charming, instead of seductive? Surely he would realize that if he were to be engaged to Fanny he would have to marry her--sure rakes and cads didn't care much for social decorum behind closed doors, but to do something so open and public as to break ones engagement would brand a man forever.
In my own opinion I think that his relationship with Maria was merely a self-satifying flirtation to keep him amused, he says himself thathe prefers engaged women b/c they are engaged and settled, contended--so he can flirt and enjoy their company w/o the women or anyone else forming plans for them, so he can do as he pleases w/o putting his honor at stake by his counterpart believing he loved her. Or so Henry may think as Maria does think him in love with her.
Now when he does wish to be attached, he choses Fanny. But what a slap in the face it must have been, a lesson for him in life when his mere indulgence w/ Maria ruins all hopes of Fanny thinking him sincere and trustworthy. Had he not flirted with Maria, he would have had Fanny. So Fanny rejects him.

Now I wish Austen had departed from Fanny and followed Crawford to where he and Maria run into each other again b/c, as far as the circumstances are, one can only speculate. If Crawford was in love with Fanny , then her refusal would leave him bitter and heartbroken, and in need of solace. Not to mention his ego as a ladies man was very wounded. So perhaps in an effort to comfort and cheer himself up he runs back to his last flirtation. Now Maria is miserble with her husband, and we know she is in love, or lust, with Crawford. So the combination of her unsatisfied lust and attraction plus Henry's wounded heart and pride, lead them to sleep together. If Herny Crawford really had intended to bed Maria, he would have done so before she was married to lessen the chance of scandal, if he had been in love witH Maria he would have run off and married her, either before her marriage, or after their affair-- after all the scandal wouldn't have been so great a thing for him to get over, considering the money he would come into when marrying her (a circumstance, I might add, that Fanny did not have). He does not marry Maria though, proving to me that she was a mere interest.

In all honesty, I think Crawford was in love with Fanny, why else would he pursue her, if he wanted her uncle's money-- why not then chose Julia. I think he might have seen something in Fanny's character, her moral goodness if you will, that he wished to aspire to.

I guess that is the eternal question, Why did Henry want Fanny?


4.But then I do have this theory: Though Mansfield Park is not told in first person, the story is conveyed--not through the eyes of Austen--but through the eyes and judgments of Fanny, and therefore no one is really as the appear to be! Especially in the case of Edmund and Henry, thier characters as portrayed are not cohesive, I think, with their characters actions. If Edmund loved her, he would have taken better care of her, but if she only thought he loved her, she would have made excuses for his slights--which I think Fanny very likely of doing. And as I said before, if Henry was such a rake and a cad, then why pursue Fanny the way he did, or why pursue her at all.



with some movies, you merely watching people get paid to read lines

As a general response, no, she definately shouldn't have married Henry. This is my response based on both the book and the BBC production (which say what you will, I always loved). Edmund was the better match by far and they definately had the most succesful marriage.


BUT...


This version really seems to sympathize with Henry. I don't think it's right, I think it's very wrong, I think they totally misinterpreted the book and I don't care for the adaptation...


BUT...


If we're talking about this version of the movie, Henry is handsomer, charming, and ready to go to any length for Fanny. Edmund was a wussy momma's boy. Forget Fanny, *I* would have picked Henry.

I don't care about money. I just want to be wonderful. - Marilyn Monroe

For my part, I wish that she had married Henry. Now, that said, I am basing that solely upon two reasons. The first being, that I have not read the book as yet and having seen the movie, I found I quite believed Henry to sincerely love Fanny. But without reading the book, I can't give a fully educated opinion in that matter. Secondly, and please don't be in uproar about this one, it is merely my opinion - Fanny and Edmund are first cousins. I know that did happen in high society from time to time in that day and age. And I know waaaayyyy back Eygptians used to marry siblings, but I still had a bad taste left in my mouth at the end when I watched them walk off in the sunset together. They're mothers were sisters and that just churns my stomach thinking about that <insert creepy, crawly shudder here!>

But those are my opinions on the matter. Fanny marrying her first cousin just took away from all the romanticism and beauty of the story. Bleh!

Over the years, I've read all of Jane Austen's novels, and while I remember some of them better than others, they are ALL morality plays set in the hermetic social environment of Jane Austen's time and station in life. If you approach them with that understanding, the ending is always foreshadowed by the principles of the leading characters. The movie version of Mansfield Park telegraphs the ending more than some of the others but the pure of heart always end up with the pure of heart, though it may take a while -- as in Pride and Prejudice -- to discover the purity underneath the facade. So it was always in the cards that Fanny would end up with Edmund because they are the genuine article. Henry and Mary are "attractive" but they are schemers.