So I know I wrote Mansfield Park and I know that Austen scholars say that if you are a true Janenite you love Mansfield Park the best, but seriously I can't stand it. Fanny is such a wonderful person the fact that Edmund doesn't love her right away makes me angry. And as you can see, no one voted for him in the poll. I'm not even sure why Fanny decides to take Edmund in the end anyway. I have just received Amanda Grange's Edmund Bertram's Diary and am intrigued to see if I will have warm and fuzzy feelings about Edmund. I like to see what Grange thinks my heros are thinking and I'd like to see if maybe Edmund was just awed by the newness of Mary Crawford and then realizes that he always loved Fanny. I like to think that's how it should be.
Let's quickly discuss the movie adaptations of Mansfield Park. There's the Frances O'Connor version where Fanny is more like a young me than she is her. Plus there's the lesbian sex scene. Suddenly I see NetFlix getting a huge run on this movie. Then there's the one PBS did with Billie Piper. No offense to Billie, I love her in Dr. Who, but she is not Fanny. She's more Victorian prostitute. Again I see NetFlix having a huge run on this movie. It just seems that people need to spice this movie up. They can't leave the plot. Which makes me think, why did I write it in the first place?
I'll let you know if I have warmer feelings toward Edmund, but I feel like I'll still think he's quite the cold fish. Although it is one of my racier books with all the bed hopping. Suddenly I see amazon.com having a huge run on this book.
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I was really confused after I watched the BBC remake of this movie. That might be because I watched the sexed up 1997 movie. Fanny was not a strong character at all, she was this blonde wilting flower with only her kindness to save her. I don't know why Austen scholars think this book makes you an Austen lover... it's not as formulaic as her other novels? Still Fanny Price is no Elizabeth Bennett.
ReplyDeleteYes the sexed up version took Fanny and made her Jane Austen. Some of the writing she reads is actually my juvenile writings. Fannie Price isn't a strong heroine. And Edmund is a lame hero. Maybe that's the point, but still I don't get it either. As least the sexed up version made me want to watch it.
ReplyDeleteI am watching Wives and Daughters and okay, so I'm not good with not knowing what's going on. So of course I cheated and read the plot synopsis. Apparently men who are blinded by less savory women are very popular. Since Robert is wowed by Cynthia even though Molly is obviously in love with him. The only difference is Molly is fun and has spirit. Her stepmother is horrible. I am only through part II, but I understand Robert gets Molly in the end. Of course the book is different since it was never finished. Perhaps I should take up writing an ending and this time I'll fix my Fanny/Edmund mistake. Mayhap Molly will get a duke. Oh dear, I've been reading too many modern Regency romances. But I do so love a good love story.
ReplyDeleteHow interesting. I was just on IMDB and discovered that Johnny Lee Miller, Edmund in the sexed up version, played one of Fanny's brothers in the 1983 Masterpiece Theatre version. Perhaps after Wives and Daughters I shall watch it. Mayhap I shall find a Mansfield Park I like.
ReplyDeleteI apologize it's Rodger not Robert.
ReplyDeleteI have changed my mind. Rodger is not a twit like Edmund. Granted he falls for Cynthia first, but when he realizes what Molly is there is a such a change and he is afraid he has messed up and has lost Molly forever. I felt like Edmund just expected Fanny to go for him where Rodger felt like he did not deserve Molly. This is the way to do a love like this. Why wasn't Gaskell born before me?
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