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Prudie : My topic is the
long-suffering daughter. One can't help but see the parallels between the
long-suffering Fanny Price in Mansfield Park and the long-suffering Anne Eliot
in Persuasion.
Allegra : I hate Fanny
Price.
Prudie : Excuse me, we're,
we’re not electing the homecoming
queen, okay? I mean, yes, if this were high school, yes, we all
know Elizabeth Bennet would be most popular and that Fanny would be least.
Grigg : Who's Elizabeth
Bennet?
Jocelyn : Of Pride and
Prejudice.
Grigg : Don't give
away too much, 'cause
I haven't read that one yet.
Bernadette : You don't know
Pride and Prejudice?
Grigg : No.
Jocelyn : I think I read
somewhere that Fanny Price was Austen's favorite.
Allegra : Fanny's boring.
Sylvia : She's faithful.
She's Horton
Hatches the Egg. She sits on that nest and she never, ever
wavers.
Bernadette : Well, she'd
probably be easier to like if she would just allow some weakness in others.
Sylvia : She doesn't allow
it in herself.
Bernadette : True.
Grigg : I didn't see what
was so bad about Henry Crawford.
Bernadette : Yes. Thank you,
Grigg. Why does it have to be Edmund?
Jocelyn : Well, Austen,
she's always suspicious of people who are too charming.
Bernadette : Just once I'd
like to pick up Mansfield Park and see Fanny end up in the sack with Henry
Crawford.
Allegra : Yes!
Jocelyn : Yes! You can't
read these novels without wondering if she doesn't have
a little thing for the
naughty boys.
Bernadette : Well, who
doesn't?
Allegra : Except for Fanny
Price.
Sylvia : Okay, look. I love
Fanny. She works hard. She puts her family's needs above her own.
Allegra : Mom, it's okay.
Sylvia : And she never, ever
stops loving Edmund, ever. Even when he's stupid enough to do something like take
up with Mary
Crawford.
Bernadette : Oh, dear. I
thought Mansfield Park would be safe, didn't you?
Allegra : I don't think
we're gonna get through all six books.
Jocelyn : Reading Jane
Austen is a freaking minefield.
Bernadette : You're awfully
quiet, Grigg. Any thoughts?
Grigg : Yeah. Yeah. Yes! The
relationship between Edmund and Fanny. They seemed like brother and sister. But
then in the end, it's like The
Empire Strikes Back, but it's in reverse. You know? 'Cause in
Jedi, Luke Skywalker, he gets
over Princess Leia
when she turns out to be his sister. Edmund gets over Miss Crawford and gets it
on with Fanny, who's his first cousin, so... Did that bother anybody else? |
