Comments | bookblather: Everything Austen II

bookblather

Everything Austen II

Jul 11, 2010 22:16

Hello, all! This is not the official start of my six-month stint reading Everything Austen, but it is a start, because I ran across a couple of small, Austen-related things recently that I thought you all might enjoy.

( First, some musing sparked by TV Tropes. Also, I call Fanny Price a twit. )

hilarity, everything austen, musings, classic

Comments 7

revenant_ July 11 2010, 22:25:13 UTC

Northanger Abbey: EPICALLY missed the point. Wow. Just...wow.

I always thought the intention with Fanny Price was to be plain & simple. I saw her as a (meager) attempt to redefine our heroine. Perhaps I am completely off base, but I saw her flailing about as a testament to her age & simple-mindedness. You said Anne was a grown up version of Fanny...well, I could almost see that. Both of these women have strong hearts. I just wish we could see the same kind of growth in Fanny as we do in Anne. The resolution to MP is flawed to me there -- I think I would be more receptive to this new style of heroine if we could see some kind of transformation. Perhaps part of the point is that we do not? It would be interesting to compare MP to Emma...

Also: when I picture Fanny flailing, she is doing the little dance 11 did in the DW season finale.

bookblather July 17 2010, 22:11:34 UTC

Oh, man, those covers, just wow.

Yes, I agree about the growth in Fanny. Over the course of Persuasion, Anne learns to trust herself and her judgement, whereas Fanny learns-- what, to rely entirely on Edmund and do everything he says? I feel like Fanny is punished for being right, where Anne is eventually rewarded. A difference in presentation changes everything?

MP to Emma how? In the lack of transformation in the heroine? Emma does change, or at least she does for the course of the book; is it possible that her good intentions don't last, or does Mr. Knightley keep her on course? An interesting discussion there, I think.

Finally, re: Fanny and Matt Smith's terrible dancing, *sporfle*

revenant_ July 18 2010, 07:53:22 UTC

I actually wrote one of my papers for the Austen class on Emma's brilliant transformation. It makes her one of Austen's most challenging & successful heroines, IMO. She is so frustrating & unlikable that it allows for a stronger resolution & redemption at the end. However, Emma and Fanny share this almost blind devotion to their brother-like beaus. Do you think Edmund and Mr. Knightley would get along? Regardless, I think both novels rely a bit heavily on their male leads as moral compass. It's as if Fanny cannot grow because Edmund cannot push her enough (see: weakest hero everrr).

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bookblather July 17 2010, 22:19:10 UTC

Ooh, yes, the judgment gets to me as well. Having good judgment versus being judgmental a pretty big question in Austen's work, I think, especially in Pride and Prejudice but it turns up in all of them. Fanny lands on the wrong side of it for me, for pretty much every reason you just cited, whereas Anne makes judgment calls a lot but rarely comes across as being judgy, I think because she doesn't act on them quite like Fanny does. Or at least, she judges people while still retaining compassion for them. Does that make sense? It is very late where I am.

shadowsong26 July 17 2010, 05:47:44 UTC

heh. i actually disliked emma more than fanny. i think i read too much elsie dinsmore growing up. now, fanny's love interest...i forget if his name was edmund or edward. either way, i couldn't stand him.

but your point about anne being a grown-up fanny makes sense. and i did prefer anne to fanny.

bookblather July 17 2010, 22:22:39 UTC

I am not sure how I feel about Emma. On the one hand, she's kind of a spoiled brat. On the other hand, she's usually acting from a genuine desire to make people happy. And she's by far the most well-off of Austen's heroines; Anne Elliot, while the highest in rank, has a family that is rapidly running out of money and still needs to marry someone who can support her, like every other Austen heroine, except for Emma. I think she's a departure for Austen, and if you like her other ladies, the odds are lower that you're going to like Emma.

Anne is pretty consistently awesome, though. And Edmund should GTFO and take his self-righteousness with him. Even if he was played by Johnny Lee Miller that one time.

shadowsong26 July 17 2010, 22:32:03 UTC

i agree with what you said about emma--she *is* trying to do the right thing. it's just...i don't know. i think she came off as patronizing, and i guess annoying patronizing I Know Better Than You twits annoy me more than professional doormats. ::shrugs:: that being said, fanny is still hella annoying. though she didn't irritate me as much as edmund. blech.