MP versus P&P {Spoiler Alert}

I came to Mansfield Park without knowing the story beforehand, which was intentional.  Do you ever read Pride and Prejudice and wonder what you would have thought of all the characters and all the happenings if you didn't already know exactly what happened?  Would I have believed Wickham? Would I have hated Darcy?  How shocking would Lydia's elopement have been?  I wanted to know what it was like to experience Jane Austen with no preconceived notions.  I did that with Persuasion this past summer, and it was lovely.


This time, it was an...interesting experience.  I found it a little stressful actually, not knowing what I wanted to happen, not knowing what I was supposed to want to happen.  After a while, and before any scandal broke out, I finally decided that I wanted Fanny to end up with Henry Crawford--and yet by then I knew it was a silly thing to hope for.  I think I know Austen's style well enough that I knew something else would happen.


Obviously, as soon as all the scandal broke out, I didn't want Fanny to be with Crawford anymore.  But I still didn't really want her to end up with Edmund.  He was at least as bad as Crawford.  And like Katie, I was more impressed by Crawford's turn-around {even if it didn't last} than Edmund's tardy turn-around.  I too believe in the transforming power of love, I believe people can drastically change themselves for the better, and I believe that even a true change of heart can be reversed if there is nothing to keep the change strong.  I think Crawford's change was sincere, but Fanny didn't give him the encouragement he needed to keep working so hard at it.  Crawford chose to improve himself, while Edmund only changed his mind about Mary Crawford when her character was blatantly revealed.  He knew and ignored all along that she was a bit loose in her morals, but he only turned to Fanny's goodness when he had no other option.  He deserved Mary, I think.


So why were Crawford's earlier flirtations unforgivable while Edmund was forgiven for his at the drop of a hat?


I thought it interesting that Fanny was upheld as the pinnacle of goodness, loyalty, and wisdom all throughout the book.  She really never changed throughout the entire book, which I think is strange for a protagonist {I wouldn't be surprised if Fanny was Austen's favorite heroine, as this could explain why Fanny was the same from start to finish.} I, for one, was particularly annoyed by her attitude towards her natal family when she went home for a visit.  I kept expecting Austen to teach her a lesson of true family loyalty.  But it never happened.  She was stubbornly ashamed and disgusted by all but two of them from start to finish.


I was a little worried as to how everything would work out in the end.  Just a few paragraphs before the scandal broke out, I was afraid that nothing could happen that would make me totally happy with the way everything turned out.  But trust that Jane Austen to throw a scandal in the air and have everything fall into place rather nicely because of it.  Everyone basically got what they deserved in the end, right?  More or less?


Well, now I have a little peek of what it may have been like to read Pride and Prejudice without knowing the story beforehand.  I may have rooted for Wickham.  I may have despised Darcy.  Lydia's elopement would have been so shocking!  Elizabeth's frustration with her family members may have frustrated me {but I don't think so; her family really was bad.}  I prefer Pride and Prejudice so much over Mansfield Park in terms of characters and story, but I still liked MP well enough.  It was well-written, of course, and almost all of the characters were lovable at one point or another throughout the story.


So it wasn't my favorite either, but I still enjoyed it.