On the other hand, Austen also allows them to play the romantically impossible; for instance, Mary Crawford, a woman who has flawed morals and overly strong opinions, plays the part of Amelia a kind girl who is content to marry and love a clergyman, which is ironic as Mary spends most of her time persuading Edmund not to join the church. As a reader this part of the novel is key to unlocking further understanding about events yet to come in the book. It uses the theme of romance both structurally and morally. For the characters of the book when in this play are used as Austen’s puppets. Puppets that represent the corrupt romantic relationships held at Mansfield Park and on a larger scale, within society.
In the novel there is a character that shows reluctance in taking part in the play and that is the protagonist, Fanny Price. She claims ‘”[she] cannot act”’(p.118) but perhaps this is metaphorical. Fanny may be
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Henry unlike Edmund does attempt to court Fanny, he even tries to change from the flirtatious man he once was in order to win her over romantically. To Henry Fanny means so much more for she is not easily won, unlike the Bertram sisters, he wants to romance her and make her fall in love with him, he says to his sister, ‘ “I am quite determined to marry Fanny Price” ’ (p.234). When speaking of Fanny he sounds like a true romantic, focusing on each detailed moment and the power she has on his heart, ‘ “her hair arranged as neatly as it always is, and one little curl falling forward as she wrote, which she now and then shook back…. Had you seen her so, Mary, you would not have implied the possibility of her power over my heart ever ceasing” (p.238). The theme of romance here is clear; Fanny and Henry could have been happy together. She could of helped Henry to become a better man and in turn he could of encourage Fanny to come out of her shell and rescue her from the paternal grasp of Mansfield