The Fatal Trouble with Mansfield Park Adaptations

[@haltersweb]

When I first read this book about 20 years ago it intrigued and haunted me. It couldn’t hold a candle to Emma or PP or Persuasion. But it was a fascinating character study, and I seemed to connect with Fanny deep inside. I was always so proud of her for never falling for Henry. I felt her complacency toward her lack of self worth in my very own bones. It wasn’t until recently when I picked up the book again that I realized the connection. Two decades later, and I (who had been through a lot of my own therapy) realized I was reading the story of a young woman who had suffered complex and chronic child abuse. Not the child abuse of beatings and bruises and visits from the police, but rather the insidious child abuse of neglect, emotional and mental cruelty. The kind one certainly as a child and even as an adult can’t quite put their finger on. A young woman who doesn’t crumple into a catatonic, bipolar, narcissistic, or BPD mess is a strong woman (and a very lucky woman). And that is who Fanny Price is. In the end her awareness and care makes her the savior of the weak adopted-family members.

[@beckybruhn]

Yes, it's interesting that Jane Austen was describing a girl/woman who we would now identify (correctly) as having childhood trauma. And I agree, it makes her resiliency and strength all that much more impressive.

[@Skuldrox]

I'd love to see a movie that adapted the story faithfully, but just changed the perspective to make it a tragedy instead of a happy romance. Because I think it's really easy to ready the story that way as a modern reader. Fanny Price is stuck in a toxic situation, but it is overall the best situation she could hope to be in for her social status. It requires her to be quiet and humble and never complain. These traits read as her being morally righteous if you think about from the perspective of the regency era, but as a modern reader all I could see was a young girl who had been forced to become a people pleaser, to hide her true thoughts & opinions (her true personality), in order to stay safe and survive. From a modern perspective, Mary Crawford feels like the character who would make Fanny open up and grow. They're perfect foils of one another. They form a strange friendship over the course of the book where Fanny seems equal parts fascinated and horrified by Mary. Mary's flaws do not seem that horrible from a modern perspective, but they are damning if looked at through the eyes of the time the book was written. When the book was written, readers were supposed to see that Mary could have been as good as Fanny if she had had a better upbringing. But modern readers see the opposite. Fanny could have been as confident in herself and happy if she had been brought up by people who didn't stifle her. This is a regency story, and it's not going to follow the tropes modern audiences are used to for a character like Fanny. Fanny does not get to escape Mansfield Park. She does not get to develop her own personality separate from being pleasing to others. She loses the only companion who challenged her, and she marries a man who only thought of her after he lost the woman he was really in love with, and who only wants to be with her because she's such a humble people pleaser (also Edmund has a backbone made out of string cheese. He's probably my least favorite Austen Male Lead). I don't want an adaption that changes any of these things, I want an adaption that leans into how tragic it is from a modern perspective that this is the ending that was the happiest for Fanny.

[@beckybruhn]

Oh my gosh, yes! And what great insight into the differences between the modern reader and the "original" audience. The way you describe her circumstances really helps explain why we are uncomfortable with this story in the first place! I do think that adaptation would still have the problem of the plot NOT centering on Fanny Price. But it would make more sense.

[@aydenkelly6274]

I think the core of the story is about the impacts of emotional abuse and structural disempowerment, and the difficulty of standing up for what you believe in the face of that. The drama of an adaptation needs to focus on the pressure Fanny is under, and what she has observed that justifies her behaviour in the eyes of the audience. MP is, in my opinion, the best justification for feminism of all Jane Austen's novels. Fanny's growth is that she gains the confidence to stand up for herself and to hold out for long enough that others recognise she is right. Otherwise she can come across as priggish. The main difference between Anne Elliot and Fanny Price is that FP has no social status, and is therefore vulnerable to outright abuse, not just being taken for granted.

[@beckybruhn]

Yes, I think you are describing very well why it's harder to accept the story of Fanny Price than of Anne Elliot. Thank you for sharing that!

[@greenamigo4553]

Spot on. It’s the classic underdog tale that can work very well on the screen.

[@RobKristjansson]

Smart remarks aside, I think anyone adapting Mansfield Park is faced with a choice - try to make a good adaptation, or a faithful one. But this text ain't letting them do both.

[@beckybruhn]

Agreed.

[@viviennehayes2856]

I find it very strange that movies and mini series often 'tone down' the horrible characters, e.g. Jane Eyre's aunt (she was AWFUL) and Mrs Norris - she was absolutely horrible to Fanny, (as far as I can remember) very often telling her how inferior she was to her cousins, telling her to be humble, complaining about her for any little trifle, etc etc. I agree with the comments here that Fanny was an abused child, had to be a people pleaser and was doing her best to survive a very difficult situation, a situation which actually was a blessing as well - sweet and sour as life often is.

[@MargeConnelly]

The characters in Mansfield Park change at the last minute in a most peculiar way. Almost like she had to end it abruptly.

[@beckybruhn]

Good point! Maybe she didn't know how to wrap it up. If Fanny didn't end up with Edmund, what else would happen to her?

[@KERaw2]

Have you watched From Mansfield with Love webseries? (Completely biased because I produced and was on the writers team) We made it 10 years ago, and whilst it is nowhere near film/TV production quality - we were mostly students - I feel we really tried to get across Fanny's personality, but also stay faithful to the story. It's all still on KZbin!

[@beckybruhn]

I have been watching that, yes! Kudos to you and your team! I really like the idea of bringing Jane Austen characters into modern day settings and situations, especially with a younger perspective. Nicely done!

[@Ritercrazy]

You made a web series????? That's amazing!

[@jjjnettie]

In defense of Fanny, her position in the family means she has to be obedient and meek. She knows her place and Aunt Norris reminds her of it often. But when William comes to visit she can be herself. 'Fanny had never known so much felicity in her life, as in this unchecked, equal, fearless intercourse with the brother and friend' 'ready to think of every member of that home as she directed, or differing only by a less scrupulous opinion, and more noisy abuse of their Aunt Norris, ' Crawford saw how she came to life , her true personality shone through when William was around and this was the Fanny he fell in love with 'Her affections were evidently strong. To see her with her brother! What could more delightfully prove that the warmth of her heart was equal to its gentleness' If only Jane wrote more dialog between Fanny and William, maybe more people would warm to Fanny.

[@venyasankyk982]

Truly feeling safe and even thrilled, Fanny doesn't need to hide herself so much, when William comes.Oh I see!!!!!!

[@beckybruhn]

Yes, I see this. Thank you for sharing your perspective. One thing - Fanny's sister Susan takes her place after Fanny gets married and Jane Austen does say that Susan's personality was maybe better suited to standing up for herself. (I really should look up the quote but it's something like that.) It makes me wonder what would have happened if Susan had been sent instead. Alternate universe!

[@jjjnettie]

@@beckybruhn Yes, Susan had the stronger personality, but she was also older than what Fanny was when she joined the family, she was also forewarned about what to expect from Mrs Norris. She didn't have to put up with Mrs Norris for long anyway, she soon went into self exile with Maria, and Sir Thomas had softened incredibly since Antigua. This novel is one of my favourites. There's so much depth to the characters that it takes multiple readings to take it all in. I'd love to read some alternate universe fan fics of this novel. I had incredible fun reading the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies series of books.

[@RobKristjansson]

"... morally flabby..." should be on a f**king t-shirt! 👌😆

[@beckybruhn]

It's fun to say, too!

[@IngriddenDigre]

The last time I read Mansfield park, I went from enjoying it to actually loving it. Not as a romance, but as a comedy, a picture and commentary of Regency England. It's a window into a world completely different from what I know. Fanny, I believe had to be passive, because she's our window. If she does too much, she'll make that window a bit less clear, because we'll see her faults, we'll focus on her instead of all the other faulty characters. And they're all faulty in different ways. The problem for modern audiences, is that one needs some general information about the period, to see the commentary, that the audience of that time would know. If Mansfield Park (the house and land), had been called, let's say Greenpeace park, or Mandela Park, Amnesty park, Nobel park or something similar and Sir Thomas Bertram went to sort out discord in his factory in Bangladesh, instead of the West Indies, we as a modern audience would instantly see a disconnect in his characteristics, presenting himself as someone who cares about nature/human rights, but also earns all his money by exploiting both the environment and poor people other places in the world. We'd understand him a lot better, than I did the first 10 years I knew the story. And by realizing Sir Thomas Bertram is quite the hypocrite from the very start, him sending Fanny away, really makes more sense. We already see how he talks about high morals, but when it comes to finances - money talks more. By the way, if you didn't know, Lord Mansfield was the first judge that gave some slaves in England freedom, and said that slavery shouldn't exist in England (not anything about the rest of the world though). His grand niese was a mixed child, and was raised by him and his wife. There's a movie about her, I don't remember what it's called, but maybe Dido. The last time I read the book, I really enjoyed trying to find contemporary comparisons to the story, so that all that was unsaid, would be understood by the audience, and I think it would be the only way for us to adapt the book into a movie, not just adapt it to the screen, but adapt the social commentary as well. Then we won't be confused about a strange romance, but see the whole picture, which I think was the point Austen had.

[@AJansenNL]

Great comment! I never made the connection between Lord Mansfield and the name of the Bertram's estate. Your insight definitely added another layer of understanding for me.

[@beckybruhn]

@ingriddendigre thank you for this! What a great insight and fascinating information!

[@девахутикардама]

The Fannys of the two latest adaptations are not Austen's Fannys at all, I'm glad that you stated it. The 1983 version is very good, but it seems like it's more about just faithful transferring of the scenes and dialogues to the screen, and not about characterization. IMHO

[@beckybruhn]

I'm with you on this!

[@VoxFabuli]

Oh my gosh, this is fabulous, thank you. While I'm fond of the book, I'd stopped assessing the whole "why can't this become a decent movie" question with "well Fanny is kind of boring." But I never dug into _why_ she's boring. Lack of change! Aha! That does make for rather a non existent character arc. If you take requests, Lady Susan is my current favorite of the Austen books ;)

[@beckybruhn]

Thank you! Lady Susan?? Really? I will have to look at that one again.

[@melenatorr]

I'm going to counter your very intelligent and perceptive presentation. For me, you cannot have "Mansfield Park" without Fanny's connection to Mary Crawford. For me, the essential relationship is not Fanny and Edmund but Fanny and Mary: they are mirror images, opposites but weirdly similar, as both come from a background that emphasizes neglect and/or a sort of emotional abuse. Physically they have a resemblance to each other, both being lightly built and (apparently) darker complexioned than the tall, rather floridly built Bertram sisters. Mary forms a feeling toward Fanny that combines sympathy and dependance, both of which are new for her, and which lingers after the novel is finished. Fanny does not return this friendship, but is affected by it as the recipient of Mary's confidences, and I think this subconsciously affects Fanny's connection to her sister (I forget the sister's name) upon her return home. For me, this stressful, tense, necessary connection is the heart of the novel, and is unique, not only in the Austen canon but in literature in general. If we could get an adaptation that understands this, I think we could get a very good one. Incidentally, our family was introduced to "Mansfield Park" by the 1983 adaptation, which we liked very much, which interested my mother and me into reading the novel together, and which, we felt, characterized Fanny's quiet strength very well. We disliked the 1990s version intensely and felt is was untrue to the core of the novel, and that if Rozema couldn't trust her source material, then she should have created her own and left Austen in peace.

[@jeanninemasiello7155]

I agree and have wondered if not for Fanny's infatuation with Edmund, I wonder if she might not have appreciated Mary more.

[@maryhamric]

I think I agree with you. It is my least favorite of her novels, but according to Austen her friends and family loved it - many loved it even more than P&P. Which says to me that something is lost on us in the modern age about Fanny and the storyline. It doesn't resonate with us much someone being so passive and in her head all the time. At least Anne Elliot is more active with her life, shows explicit determination, has a growth arc, etc. I think the 1983 version is a good starting point for those trying to understand the plot. I didn't like the 1999 version because they were sexually explicit on screen about Maria and Henry and that's NOT what I'm looking for in an Austen adaptation. I also didn't like them merging Fanny into a Jane Austen type (and when Edward quotes Jane's father "In a style entirely new..." about Fanny's writing I cringed. It felt SO forced). I haven't finished the 2007 version. I just couldn't take Fanny running around with her hair down all the time and being carefree and bubbly and stopped watching. LOL.

[@beckybruhn]

Yes, I can see why the readers at the time enjoyed it. They were probably reading it as a family in evening sessions and there is a lot of good fun in the book. And yes, the nudity in the 1999 version was startling. I don't think there's been another adaptation with that in it? Maybe Lydia and Wickham lolling around in their pjs but that's all I remember! LOL!

[@maryhamric]

@@beckybruhn Yep, that's all and a girl running in her undies when Darcy opened the door on Wickham at school. I think that's appropriate. LOL.

[@stefaniehopenewman2814]

I agree with you and would add that Edmund, priggish and clueless, just blunders into a marriage to Fanny whom he in no way deserves. This makes the ending less satisfying for me than other ja

[@beckybruhn]

I sometimes wonder how much Jane Austen actually respected Edmund. I wish we could ask her!

[@acratone8300]

Mansfield Park is a masterpiece. The old 1983 version is great. It isn't cut down short like the trivial more modern versions, which aren't long enough to build up suspense nor a fondness for the characters and allow us to root for the heroine. Fanny Price is not really pretty in the novel, and neither is she as played by Anna Massey. It is the version of this great novel which I really enjoy.

[@coloraturaElise]

Anna Massey played Mrs. Norris, not Fanny. It was Sylvestra La Touzel who played Fanny.

[@elenaakopylova7710]

But I loved the 1983 adaptation! In fact, I'll just sit down and re-watch it tonight! I particularly loved the voice of the heroine, it's so pleasant on the ear somehow! I read Mansfield Park when I was living at my sister's and going to college. My sister was living in America, married and with a big American house! And I was a student from a former Soviet Republic who talked about how grateful she was for the chance to study in the STATES! Don't get me wrong, I was and still am grateful to my sister and she was not in the habit of running me down as our lovely aunt Norris did with Fanny, but I know what it's like to be a poor relation! Fanny is, perhaps, not fun to watch but I do understand where she's coming from! However, I wish she had stayed with Henry! really now! don't we all? P.S.: forgive me any possible errors as my native language is Russian and I haven't visited my American sister for a few years!

[@beckybruhn]

@elenaakopylova7710 interesting perspective, thank you for sharing. I kind of hoped for Henry too but I'm not sure he could have made Fanny happy.

[@reginawhitlock4227]

I love the 1983, didn't find it at all boring.

[@renelolitajohanna1097]

I loved it "drugged cat"

[@Ritercrazy]

I could never figure out why Mansfield Park was soooo something. But it was Fanny's lack of character development. Now I get it. Still love it though.

[@ChildOfDarkDefiance]

What about an adaptation that is super faithful to the book, but at the end Fanny gets over Edmund 😤, meets someone else and leaves Mansfield in her past? I don't have a problem with Fanny, maybe she's a little judgy but she stands up for what she thinks is right. I also think there's something to be said for characters that endure. Elinor Dashwood for example doesn't really change, she survives & takes care of her people until circumstances change. My problem is all with Edmund, who is a hypocrit, lacking in self knowledge, but ready to condemn others. Loath him. I mean think about how things went down with Mary Crawfor from the perspective of the time. Mary didn't change or say anything really new, he just finally saw her as she had been the whole time. Willoghby is bad because (among other more serious crimes) he lead Marianne on then bailed when he thought he needed more money. Wentworth thought he might have to marry Louisa because he had acted in a way that made everyone expect it, spen a few months away waiting to see if that could cool things off & was massively relieved when he heard she was engaged to Bewick (little dissappointed in Bewick, but still happy). Edwards is honor bound to keep his engagement with Lucy Steel, even though she's awful. This was serious stuff. The book doesn't hold Edmund to the same standard. It almost seems like Austen herself wasn't thrilled with them as a couple though, because nothing happens between them until the epilogue.

[@beckybruhn]

Yeah, Edmund, big problem. Weak, unworthy of Fanny, blinded by his libido. I do wonder, since you say it, how much Jane Austen really did like Edmund. Or Edmund and Fanny as a couple. I mean, he pales in comparison to her other male leads. I sure wish I could ask her!

[@ChildOfDarkDefiance]

@@beckybruhn I'm not sure. On the one hand he is not condemned the way other characheters were for very similar actions, on the other hand she says something like, no one minds getting what's too good for them and it happens in the epilogue. I mean Miss Austen is never one for gooey stuff and will gennerally just summarize the conversation until they start talking about other things. About the only time she really writes the mushy stuff is Persuasion. Secondary leads like Marianne might get their happily ever afters in the epilogue. But to have her main charachter get come to an understanding with her "love" in the summing up of what happened to everyone is pretty weird.

[@ChildOfDarkDefiance]

@panchitaobrian1660 Yes, but I'm talking an ending ether she got someone off higher moral character, possibly of somewhat lower birth. Or she marries her Cousin Tom, who actually does improve by the end. I don't actually think it's a great idea, but it amused me. She wouldn't like being lady of the manner, but think of their Aunt Norris's reaction! Plus, judging by her aunt Bertram, it's not as demanding socially as one might expect.

[@девахутикардама]

I like your analysis. You addressed some of the peculiarities of the novel that make it outstanding and the least favourite one, at the same time. And the character of Fanny is at the centre of it all, like the eye of a tornado.

[@טליאבישי-ר7ת]

I think it is not true that Fanny Price doesn't have a story of development, and I think what is interesting in the book and overlooked in the adaptations is her story, in parallel to Edmund's story. To begin with, Fanny Price is timid, self doubting, people-pleasing, trying to efface herself - a typical abused child (need I say who is the abuser?). She grows in mental and moral ways under Edmund's mentorship - Edmund who is kind and moral from the start. This continues till the advent of the Crawfords. From that point, Edmund deteriorates = deluding himself repeatedly about Mary, denying Fanny's feelings of repulsion towards Henry Crawford - and Fanny stands fast to maintain her integrity and moral principles. She tries to persuade Maria not to go around the gate without her fiance (unsuccessfully, and is mocked for it), she refuses to take part in the play (and gets called ungrateful, but is steadfast), she refuses to marry Henry Crawford (and gets banished from Mansfield for it, but sticks to her resolution). The penalties grow harsher and harsher, and at the same time Edmund whom she loves deteriorates before her eyes, but she stands strong. And even in the prison of her parents' home, she manages to find a useful role for herself, sewing for her brother, teaching and mentoring her sister, promoting a reduction of strife. I think that a good adaptation should take that into account - showing Fanny as the weak, self-doubting child, slowly growing into the woman of integrity, and resisting the downward pull of her relatives.

[@feri_lu1750]

Thank you! It really bothers me when people say the character is bland, weak and boring when she is one of the strongest characters Jane Austen has ever written. Since I was a teenager, I always resonated with the character because of her inner strength and her gentleness despite being neglected and abused all her life. Even though she was considered inferior and had no one to protect her (Edmund only treated her well but never really defended her from the rest of his family) she still felt affection for her aunts, uncle and cousins in gratitude for allowing her to live with them and always tried to help them or advise them for their sakes despite only being met with dismissive responses. The arc when she leaves Mansfield Park is for me one of the best, because there she can further show the strength of her character and values by doing everything she can to help her family (especially her sister Susan) and stand firm in her decision to not accept Henry. Even at the end she becomes the emotional support of her aunt and uncle after all the problems caused by their children, making them realize what a great woman and daughter they have always had by their side. People who complain about Fanny's personality must be the same people who complain about Snow White or Cinderella's sweet and gentle nature despite this being proof of their inner strength. The only thing I don't like is that she ended up with Edmund, she didn't deserve to be a rebound.

[@טליאבישי-ר7ת]

@@feri_lu1750 I completely agree! She should have been free of Crawford and found a new lover - one who truly loved her, in addition to appreciating her true qualities.

[@feri_lu1750]

@@טליאבישי-ר7ת 😔Yeah, my girl deserved better

[@jeanninemasiello7155]

I also think that the visit to her birth family helps Fanny to grow as well. She had spent years at Mansfield, not fully understanding why she was sent from her home as a child, believing that ..." She had probably alienated love by the helplessness and fretfulness of a fearful temper, or been unreasonable in wanting a larger share than any one among so many could deserve." So Fanny was not only abused by her Aunt Norris for all those years, she also believed that it was her own fault that she had been sent away. Additionally, when she was growing up, she knew who she was in her family - but once she was at Mansfield, she wasn't really a member of the family, she was somewhat more than a servant but really not by much. Her only sense of fitting in was in being helpful to everyone but was always made to feel that she was nothing in herself. Once she was back in Portsmouth, she began to see her own value, both in her ability to affect change for her family such as taking Susan under her wing, buying the silver knife for Betsey or preparing Sam's clothing, but also realizing her value to Mansfield Park through her correspondence with her Aunt Bertram. She seemed to grow in confidence and understanding as well.

[@טליאבישי-ר7ת]

@@jeanninemasiello7155 Yes to all of that! Except that at Mansfield she was both more and less than a servant - because her duties were ill-defined, and were practically whatever anybody wanted her to do, and she had no wages or fixed hours. Quoting from a story about another poor relative girl taken in by her rich relatives, Jane Eyre: " “Master! How is he my master? Am I a servant?” “No; you are less than a servant, for you do nothing for your keep." Both Jane and Fanny are worked as servants, but their labour is not appreciated and they are considered as living on charity.

[@LibbyANZ]

Thank you for articulating so well why this is my least favourite Austen novel! Love your thoughtful analysis.

[@beckybruhn]

Thank you, Libby!

[@SuperStella1111]

There is, indeed, nothing wrong with Mary. Nothing. Her morals are ahead of her time. Sex isn’t that scary. And Mary has moral maturity. Her great sin is thinking Henry and Maria should be forgiven. Edmund finds this morally disgusting because he is a moral prig. Yeah. I said it. Nothing wrong with Mary.

[@jeanninemasiello7155]

Mary is actually the only character who shows empathy as well as a high level of emotional intelligence. She sees how badly Fanny is treated and tries at every opportunity to mitigate that. While Edmund does care for Fanny throughout her stay at Mansfield, he seems to act out of a sense of duty initially, not a real understanding of Fanny or her situation. Just the fact that he thinks that she would be ok living with Aunt Norris shows how clueless he is, both regarding the cruelty of Aunt Norris toward Fanny as well as Fanny's fear of living with her. Luckily for Fanny, that never came to fruition, but Edmund doesn't really see things, he just views them in a more impersonal and idealized way. Mary is ahead of her time, she is a thoroughly modern character, which is interesting in a book written so long ago. Her advocacy of marriage for Maria and her brother also seems to be a product of empathy for a woman whose young life will essentially be over due to behavior that is natural and normal in a culture that is unbelievably cruel to women.

[@lesliedeamer6005]

Another winner!

[@beckybruhn]

Thank you, Leslie!