Mansfield Park by Jane Austen and Henry and Fanny by Sherwood Smith

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen and Henry and Fanny by Sherwood Smith

Fanny is taken from her home of meager means at age 10 to live with her wealthy aunt and uncle at Mansfield Park. There she is mistreated by all but her elder cousin Edmund. Fast forward to when the cousins are of marrying age and Sir Thomas is away, and a sophisticated, charismatic brother and sister duo comes to the nearby parsonage: Henry and Mary Crawford. The young people decide to put on a play together, which could be seen as either a delightful occupation or a shameful excuse to be inappropriately flirtatious. Henry shows himself to Fanny to be untrustworthy as he trifles with the affections of two of her cousins, and Mary tries to win the affections of Edmund, whom she is falling for. Shortly after, Henry decides to pursue Fanny, first carelessly, but then finds himself quite in love with her. Fanny not only can't trust him, but is in love with Edmund, her only friend and protector from childhood. In the end, Henry shows himself to be truly unsteady as he has an affair, and Mary proves to be morally reprehensible as she only faults Henry for being caught, so these two are clearly no longer marriage candidates for Edmund or Fanny. Fanny, who has never hesitated in her devotion for Edmund, eventually does get to marry him.

Many say that Mansfield Park is more social commentary and criticism than romance, and seeing it in this light has helped me warm up to it. The first few sentences of MP reveal Austen's main focus in this work, namely the wiles of the class at the time, selfishly seeking wealth and status, often discarding the very morals they claim to
support. The same people that pressure Fanny into being morally upright and meek also fault her for being so. Today's readers see Fanny as proud, prude, and priggish, but I think Austen found her to be an admirable woman steadfastly committed to her principles.

Fanny may be a dull hero compared with, say, Elizabeth Bennett, but when you consider that she is a product of her circumstances, repeatedly told how low she is, living in very real fear of punishment for doing something considered morally questionable by anyone, it becomes rather impressive that she is able to cultivate any of her own opinions, and I'm rather proud of her not meekly accepting Henry's hand under the pressure. She stayed true what she believed was right all throughout the book, and I love the idea of her being proved right at the end, and getting what she always wanted, namely Edmund for a husband.

But I have to admit, Austen's ending did not satisfy. The fact that Edmund calls Fanny "my sister" right up until the very end while still carping about Mary Crawford, does not make me think he could ever be good for her. The abrupt change in the narrative at the end of MP, where Austen goes from showing to telling in summation, did not do enough to convince me that Edmund could ever deserve Fanny, or that Fanny would truly be happy with him.

Enter: Smith's alternate ending. I enjoyed Smith's defense in her prologue of Fanny and the need for a different ending. And while, despite efforts, her voice was very different from Austen's (of course!) she did a good job continuing the personalities of the characters, while showing that people can change. Part of me is still a little anxious that Crawford will be bored with Fanny and be unfaithful, but I still far prefer her being with Henry to being with Edmund.

Still, my strongest, and apparently most culturally unacceptable belief regarding this work is that Fanny is a worthwhile heroine. Also, I think she's an enneagram 9. So maybe I can see her perspective so well because I am too.