Fanny may not be Jane Austen’s best heroine, but I love the construction of the novel. There are so many people interacting, so many jealousies and betrayals and secret crushes! I think Fanny’s main purpose is as observer of human folly rather than a central character whose eventual fate keeps you hanging. And the literary metaphors are so neatly and skillfully done - Henry Crawford tempting Maria to sneak through the gate out into the wild lands beyond, and the play where the characters’ parts represent the inner desires or characters of each.
Besides, I’m a bit bashful and “creepmouse” myself, so although Fanny’s not my favorite JA character, I can understand and relate to her.
But Edmund is a dope with no sex appeal. Give me Darcy or Henry Tilney any day.
“I doubt its being very clever myself,” said Mr. Weston. “It is too much a matter of fact, but here it is.–What two letters of the alphabet are there, that express perfection?”
“What two letters!–express perfection! I am sure I do not know.”
“Ah! you will never guess. You, (to Emma), I am certain, will never guess.–I will tell you.–M. and A.–Em-ma.–Do you understand?”
Persuasion is my favorite, followed closely by Pride and Prejudice. I never could get into Mansfield Park or Sense and Sensibility, although I think it may be time to give S&S another try.
I’ve never bothered to reread Northanger Abby - or the unfinished ones Lady Susan and The Watsons.
I’ve read the rest of them several times - Pride and Prejudice being my favorite although I think that Sense and Sensibility is the better novel. I simply like the humor in Pride and Prejudice.
I don’t find Fanny likeable, but I do find the novel interesting - it has depth the others lack.
Persuasion
Mansfield Park
Price & Prejudice
Northanger Abbey
Sense & Sensibility
Emma
This is not, though, the order in which I like or admire the leading characters. I enjoy bossy know-it-all Emma more than confused naive Catherine. Elizabeth is much preferable to Fanny. Etc. My choices of favorite novel have more to do with structure, pacing and secondary characaters. It’s interesting to me how many of the previous posters seem to see these two questions (favorite heroine, favorite novel) as “the same.”
Hi All…
For me it is a three way tie between Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility & Persuasion … Emma is a close second and I haven’t really given Mansfield Park or Northanger Abbey a decent try.
P & P is easily the most accessible novel, it’s plot structure, action and dialogue are just sharp and it’s comedic timing is spot on as well… The characters in P & P are the icing on the cake- between Lady Catherine De Bourgh, Mr. Collins and Mr. Bennet (not to mention Lydia, Mrs. Bennett, the horrible Bingley sister and of course the wicked Wickam)- they are almost too much (in a good way). S & S has very “real” characters to me- they all seem like people I know and I love the constrasts between Elinor and Marianne and Colonel Brandon and Willoughby. And *Persuasion * I love for Anne and Wentworth’s (finally) letter to her- has to be one of the most romantic letters ever written, fiction or not.
As a heroine, I do like Emma- but its a bit dryer in places and the plot doesn’t move forward as well as it does in P&P and S&S. Persuasion is guilty of this as well but I don’t mind it as much for some reason. I probably would have Emma even lower on the list if it wasn’t for the famous Mrs. Elton and the whole Emma vs. Jane Fairfax dynamic.
Talking of slapping - Marianne is my candidate rather than Emma!
However, the point I really wanted to make about S&S is that Austen never seemed to provide much more than a sketch of Brandon and Edward. How could either of them have been attractive to the sisters? Annoying though Marianne was, I felt the listless version of her had simply given up on life (rather than gotten over Willoughby) and grabbed what was available. Yes I realise she has made the transition to ‘sense’ and Brandon is a sensible choice, but it seems sad she had to give up on love, or maybe I mean passion? Brandon had led a fairly colourful life - it was a shame we saw nothing of this in his character, we just hear an account. Edward - insipid. Really he has to be the dullest romantic figure.
I much prefer Emma Thompson’s screen adaptation. She actually gives Edward and Brandon a personality apiece.
I was just thinking that I need to re-read some Austen. Pride & Prejudice and *Persuasion * are tied for my favorite. I want to be Lizzie, but I fear I’m more like Anne. She tries so hard to be a good sister and daughter that she almost loses what she needs. (Why, yes, I am an oldest child.)
Emma is such a smackable bitch that I just can’t find it in me to like the book. Some of her faults can be explained by youth, but, criminy, she’s a pain in the ass!
Vladimir Nabokov taught Mansfield Park. He would do a diagram shwoing the movements of the characters through the park, thier paths crossing and recrossing Fanny as she sat on her bench, the alliances and chances shifting. The structure is astonishing.
Mansfield Park is “dated” for me in 2 ways that I find it hard to get past:
Fanny and Edmond are cousins. I know it was viewed differently at the time, but they even grew up together to an extent.
Theater is evil and nice women shouldn’t act.
The best I can do with it is view the Crawfords as the doomed “antiheroes” of Mansfield Park, a tragedy. Really, it is spooky and Fanny is almost the spider quietly (and inexorably but insanely) spinning her webs.
This is exactly why I usually list Mansfield Park as my least favorite Austen novel. I like the Crawfords so much that I actually do enjoy the novel; and then I feel cheated somehow at the end when it is so clear they are the bad guys…
My favorite is probably Persuasion, but it’s a pretty close field. I really do love them all – even Mansfield Park. It’s only my least favorite of the Austen books, you know. Most years, I read at least a dozen books that I like less than Mansfield Park.