Balancing Books

[deird_lj]

I just finished reading Mansfield Park, for the first time in ten years (previous time being Lit class in year 10).

It's kinda good, I guess. But it also... has issues.

Issue number one being the fact that Fanny is a Mary-Sue. Definitely.

Oh, she's not brilliantly talented (or "accomplished", this being Jane Austen) at much of anything, but then, all the "accomplished" people in the story are depicted as shallow, vapid, and generally lacking in morals.

Fanny, on the other hand, is perfect. She always thinks the right way about everything, always thinks about other people's feelings, is everyone's closest confidante, understands every issue perfectly, and is never ever selfish or rude.

The woman has "Sue" written all over her.


Issue The Second is Henry Crawford running off with Maria, which comes out of nowhere.

Not exactly out of nowhere, because we've certainly heard lots about Henry and Maria flirting. But that was in Volume 1. Them running off together comes at the end of Volume 3. In the meantime, we have heard almost nothing of Maria, and Henry has been busily falling in love with Fanny and generally becoming a wonderful human being (or at least Fanny thinks so - and Fanny is always right).

And suddenly, Henry and Maria meet at a party, and decide to have an affair, with timing chosen perfectly to break up Edmund and Mary, bring Fanny back to Mansfield, and send Julia rushing off to Scotland.

Which, really, strikes me as sloppy writing.


But my main issue with the book is the fact that it ends so happily.

Not that I have a problem with happy endings - I'm rather addicted to them, in fact. I like my novels to end with everyone riding off into the sunset, and blissful music playing in the background. But on this occasion, Austen seems to have taken "and they all lived happily ever after" a tad too literally.

Let's make a short list:
- Edmund rescued from the clutches of Mary Crawford (yay!)
- Mary Crawford confirmed to be not worthy of Edmund anyway (so that's alright)
- Tom humbled and left much wiser (due entirely to a bad cold)
- Mrs Norris removed from Mansfield, never to return (ding dong the witch is dead! etcetera...)
- Maria banished from Mansfield (yay!)
- Julia shown to be better than Maria, but still not as good as Fanny (who could be?)
- Henry Crawford discredited forever (confirming that Fanny was right to reject him)
- William made a lieutenant (yay!)
- Susan taken from Portsmouth to Mansfield (like all nice people should be)
- Fanny loved by Edmund, admired by all right-thinking people, getting everything she ever wanted, and rejoicing (oh Fanny, how we love you...)

It's too perfect.

It's a conundrum, really, because if you write a story which ends with everything completely miserable, then most of your readers will decide to lynch you. But if you make everything incredibly nice, and have puppies skipping around the daisies while all the characters sing a friendship song together, people will call it unrealisitic.

It's kind of a balancing act.

Like I said, it's not that I don't like happy endings.
I want Elizabeth and Darcy to be together, but I also want Lydia to keep trying to get free handouts off her rich sister.
I want Emma and Mr Knightley to get married, and to move into Emma's house because Mr Woodhouse wouldn't cope without them.
I want them to defeat Voldemort, but I want Fred Weasley to die in battle.
I want Frodo's hand to be missing a finger.
I want Sykes to kill Nancy.
I want grandma to get permanently eaten by the big bad wolf.
I want Beth March to die tragically.

I want happy endings, but I also want some tragedy.

Otherwise it just turns into unrealistic predictable fluff.
You'd think Jane Austen would get that...

Comments

[faymeadows.livejournal.com]

Ah, Mansfield Park - how I love it - even Fanny, who's been heckled mercilessly by readers for nearly two centuries (insipid is the most frequent adjective, I believe).

Maria/Henry: see, that thing was totally Maria-driven. She's obsessed with him - and really unhappy in the Rushworth marriage; she went off Henry cold-turkey, and when they meet again she just pounces, and he's too weak-willed to put her off, and things escalate, and then the shit's hit the fan and all he can do is slap himself and say "Doh! What was I thinking?"

Anyway, the real UST in that book is all Henry/Mary.

Is there scope for a frivolous poll here, do you think? "The Fanged Four come to Mansfield Park. Which character(s) should get turned?"

[deird1]

I certainly liked it better on this read-through than I did on the last one - but compared to the Bennett girls, Fanny bores me to tears.

Anyway, the real UST in that book is all Henry/Mary.

Hmm. Unfortunately, Maria just disappears for most of the book, so it's hard to even remember the whole Henry/Mary thing except as an excuse to have Fanny reject him...

I think my little shipper's heart is much more drawn to the idea of Fanny/Henry and Edmund/Mary. Not sure why.

Is there scope for a frivolous poll here, do you think?

There is always scope for frivolous polls...
And I'm voting for Lady Bertram. I think she'd make a terrific vampire.
Or possibly Julia - I have a soft spot for her.

[faymeadows.livejournal.com]

Oh, I didn't even think of Lady Bertram! Hmm. A very indolent vampire with lots of minions to hunt for her? (And would she eat Pug first? Ew.) I say Fanny gets turned. Or Aunt Norris. :)

And I just realised that I said "Fanged Four" instead of "Angelus and Darla" - proof that the Buffyverse timeline isn't hard-wired into my head yet. *embarrassed look*

Henry/Mary, incestuous though it is, strikes my fancy because they're the only ones who can keep up with each other. And IMHO neither Henry nor Mary really loves anyone except Sibling Dearest.

Though Edmund/Mary is interesting; they've got some sparkage moments. And I remember a fic at Yuletide one year - remarkably hot Henry/Edmund.

[deird1]

Fanny as a vampire? Cool. She'd either be completely psychotic, or incredibly patient (very, very slowly bringing all of her evil schemes to fruition, with the rest of Mansfield completely unaware...).

Henry/Mary, incestuous though it is, strikes my fancy because they're the only ones who can keep up with each other.

Hee! Good point!

And I just realised that I said "Fanged Four" instead of "Angelus and Darla" - proof that the Buffyverse timeline isn't hard-wired into my head yet. *embarrassed look*

Huh. I didn't even notice that. I'm pretty good with the Buffyverse timeline, but not so clear on Jane Austen's timeline...
*looks embarrassed along with you*

From Laney

[(Anonymous)]

See, now I have to actually read Mansfield Park before I can read this post!
Grrrrr...
(typed while averting my eyes from all writing above this)

Re: From Laney

[deird1]

You mean you haven't read it yet? Odd.
Feel free to borrow it off me any time you like...

[shapinglight]

I can't really remember the book well enough to comment, except to say that it had rather a touch of the Victorian morality tale about it compared to Austen's other books (which is odd, seeing as she wasn't a Victorian).

Maybe she'd been reading something Improving just before she started writing it and Fanny ended up as more of a Moral Symbol than a character.

Er - sorry for the capital letters. They seemed appropriate somehow.

[deird1]

I think you're right. Fanny is very much the Moral Symbol, and as a consequence, ends up being one of the least interesting characters in the book...

[klme.livejournal.com]

"As Jo turned to walk back into the house with her professor she stopped in surprise. The door was open! She felt certain she had closed it. She cautiously leant in to the hallway. "Hello?" "Jo! My dearest Jo! It's me, Beth!" "Beth? It can't be!" "Yes, it's me! I was just in a coma, and now I'm awake and perfectly healthy! And guess what! Fred has proposed to me and we'll be married and have loads and loads of money for the whole family to share! Isn't it wonderful?!" "Oh Beth!"

Hmmm... I agree with you.

[deird1]

Congratulations, you've just written fanfic :)

[klme.livejournal.com]

mind you I should add an apology to Alcott, and a hope that this is the only piece ever written in this style, as it's a bit of a travesty really...