Epistles and External Perspective

I have recently been reading an interesting discussion, on the state of Fanny’s health in Mansfield Park, on the website The Republic of Pemberley. This is a go-to website for Austen lovers who want to discuss things about Austen’s novels. The discussions are updated regularly, and if you are confused about something, you can likely find the answer there. For other great -thought provoking articles about Jane Austen, I would recommend the JASNA website, and its on-line newsletter. The articles are top notch, and while I do not agree with all theses that are published, they are food for thought.

Anyway, back to the article. One women commented and asked whether or not Fanny is anemic, or has a heart condition, because she is always out of breath, tired, sickly looking, and pale. It is an interesting idea. She always seems sub-healthy, and I always thought that it was because she is either inside keeping someone company, or out running errands, she does not get the same healthy and balanced activity that her cousins do. I always believed that she was inconvenienced, but did not want to complain. Her health seemed to me another excuse for her family to leave her behind, and separate her from the rest of the group. One person suggested that her sickly nature is the repression of feelings and the loneliness that she feels, and her ill health and stress are the way that her body reacts to these things. I am sure that this is true to a certain extent, but because she is so shy and modest, I doubt that she does it on purpose to gain attention. Another commentator said that Fanny is going through puberty, and that perhaps her body is slow to develop. I guess the only way to know for sure is to ask Jane Austen herself. The topic of Fanny’s health comes up so often, that I sure it is not just a fluke, and Jane Austen must have included these small details for a reason. She emphasises in her novels that people are usually products of their environment, so if Fanny is weak and sickly, it is because that is how people made her to be.

Another article on the JASNA website, speaks of Jane Austen’s writing style, and the lack of love letters that occur in the pages of her book. The author comments that Austen’s finest passages from her major novels come when the heroine thinks and ponders her current situation. Jane’s writing is different from the epistle form of many period novels, but is influenced by a letters ability to convey personal thoughts, hence the scenes of pondering in her novels. She may not have many letters, but the personal feelings of the characters come across in the carefully crafted narration. For example, in Pride and Prejudice, the novel’s narration focused mostly on Elizabeth’s feelings, which allows us to see the world and people (especially Darcy) through her eyes. Because the narration is personal, but not epistle, we can experience action with the characters, and feel as though we are there with them. In other words, being influenced by epistles gave her a personal edge to her narration, but often taking a third person view gives an element of external perspective.