"The
'original' Fanny Price is a rather boring, moral goody goody and her wit
certainly can not compare to Austen's other heroines, eg. Elizabeth from Pride
and Prejudice. Were the creators of the most recent adaptation to have
reproduced Austen's original characterization of Fanny, there would have been
none of the witty feminist rebukes or sharp retorts we find in this new and very
funny version of Mansfield Park."
-- Evie
"As a keen Austen fan and a person who greatly enjoyed Mansfield Park, I was interested to see what they would do to bring the story to the 'big screen'. How you can criticize Fanny for delivering her lines in a "...narrative, almost mournful..." tone is more than I can say. The novel is not allowed to express her "...sharp tongue..." which you state as being prevalent in all of Jane's books and is in fact more firmly repressed than any part of the film. Why does she watch passively? Because she was never permitted to speak out about her own beliefs or feelings. Why does Fanny not "...cut deeply..."? Because she was never allowed to. This film takes great liberty with the character, elevating her to a woman of almost equal consequence with her cousins, regardless of what was initially intended. There are moments of stern repression, well in keeping with what Austen intended in her novel, but these are not continuous as they would have been if the adaptation were accurate.
It is therefore
surprising that you should choose to comment negatively on one of the main
underpinnings of the original novel. For a modern person, it would be surprising
to see Fanny kept in the background. But "...this is 1806, for goodness
sake..." and no-one should be surprised if the female remains firmly in the
position in which society and class have placed her. "
-- Katherine
Bruce,
Australia