# Would you marry Henry Crawford? (Mansfield Park by Jane Austen)



## Daphne (May 27, 2010)

I am three quarters of the way through Mansfield Park and Fanny Price (whom I struggle to like) is being assiduously wooed by the flawed but charming, intelligent and talented Henry Crawford and we (the reader) are waiting to see if she will yield. I have read the book before and recall the ending, But I don't want to spoil it here for anyone who has not read this delightful book - I only ask of those who have read it; would you marry Henry Crawford? Personally I'm ready to say, "Yes!"...


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## AnelaBelladonna (Apr 8, 2009)

I would love to but I can't.  My heart belongs to Mr. Darcy.


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## Thea J (Jul 7, 2010)

AnelaBelladonna said:


> I would love to but I can't. My heart belongs to Mr. Darcy.


I have to agree.


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## Alice Y. Yeh (Jul 14, 2010)

Definitely not. His vanity and lack of scruples would be something horrible to attach oneself to for life. (Maria, anyone?) That's not to say I wouldn't have been duped, but knowing what he's really like? That just about slams that door shut.


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## Daphne (May 27, 2010)

Well, I'll let you two girls share Darcy if I can have Henry  .


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

No, though it has nothing to do with his desirability or lack thereof: I just don't happen to lean that way.


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## 13500 (Apr 22, 2010)

No. I would hope I would not be duped by him, but he does put on a good show of all-out wooing.

Karen


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## Daphne (May 27, 2010)

NogDog said:


> No, though it has nothing to do with his desirability or lack thereof: I just don't happen to lean that way.


Well, NogDog, I guess you could choose between Elizabeth Bennet (feisty and opinionated - also prejudiced) or Fanny Price - mimsy and judgemental (OK, I really do have a problem with her character)?


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## Guest (Aug 28, 2010)

Daphne said:


> I am three quarters of the way through Mansfield Park and Fanny Price (whom I struggle to like) is being assiduously wooed by the flawed but charming, intelligent and talented Henry Crawford and we (the reader) are waiting to see if she will yield. I have read the book before and recall the ending, But I don't want to spoil it here for anyone who has not read this delightful book - I only ask of those who have read it; would you marry Henry Crawford? Personally I'm read to say, "Yes!"...


Fanny Price is the most unlikable of Jane Austen's protagonists. Even her (Austen's) mother called her insipid. I think we're all in a position where we want to beat her over the head and make her give in.

Pro Tip: Jane Austen's heroines always marry the man they're "supposed to," not the ones they want.


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## DYB (Aug 8, 2009)

foreverjuly said:


> Fanny Price is the most unlikable of Jane Austen's protagonists. Even her (Austen's) mother called her insipid. I think we're all in a position where we want to beat her over the head and make her give in.
> 
> Pro Tip: Jane Austen's heroines always marry the man they're "supposed to," not the ones they want.


What about Emma? I always thought she was really obnoxious and conceited, even in the end. Knightley deserved better.


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## Daphne (May 27, 2010)

DYB said:


> What about Emma? I always thought she was really obnoxious and conceited, even in the end. Knightley deserved better.


The trouble with Fanny is that I feel Jane Austen expects us to admire and respect her, whereas Emma was meant to be annoying (and, yes, Knightley did deserve better).


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## Guest (Aug 28, 2010)

DYB said:


> What about Emma? I always thought she was really obnoxious and conceited, even in the end. Knightley deserved better.


Not my favorite either, though I can be partial to obnoxious and conceited characters. Maybe that's why Marianne Dashwood will always be #1 for me.


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## tlrowley (Oct 29, 2008)

You all can fight over Darcy all you want - hands off of Captain Wentworth, though. (Or maybe it's just Ciarán Hinds?)


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## Alice Y. Yeh (Jul 14, 2010)

What about Mr. Edward Ferrars? I think that it says a great deal that he kept to his word and took responsibility for his poor judgment. (Lucy Steele?  Really? She's still my least favorite female Austen character, though Mary Crawford might give her a run for her money.)


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## drenfrow (Jan 27, 2010)

tlrowley said:


> You all can fight over Darcy all you want - hands off of Captain Wentworth, though. (Or maybe it's just Ciarán Hinds?)


You and me both. Ciaran Hinds* is* Captain Wentworth. _Persuasion_ is in many ways my favorite Austen novel. So truly romantic and that is one couple who really are meant for each other.


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## CNDudley (May 14, 2010)

Can I stick up for Fanny? She's not an in-your-face go-getter, but she has good judgment and a lot of integrity. It just sucks to be a poor relation. Thought it was awful in the movie how they tried to make her more zippy, which didn't work with the plot.

Henry Crawford is a little too charming. I'm in the Wentworth-Knightley camp myself.

Her least appealing fella? Henry Tilney! Or maybe it's just that Northanger Abbey is the only Austen book I don't like. I even prefer Lady Susan, and I hate epistolary novels.


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## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

_The man woos
And the maid chooses
But eager choosers
Can pick only from wooers_​
In those times, I would marry Henry Crawford if I were poor and he were the only one to ask. His most egregious faults aren't close to the depredations of poverty, especially for women then.

I didn't like Emma the first time I read the book, but she grew on me. She sincerely wants to do good and help people find happiness. And when she does something truly awful to Miss Bates, she's devastated and ashamed of herself.

As for heroes, Captain Wentworth is my guy. Knightley and Edmund Bertram are next, though far behind the captain. In Edmund's case, I suspect it might be the Johnny Lee Miller treatment -- Oh! and he played Knightley too, and very well, in the latest Emma miniseries. I named a hero after Edmund.


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## Marioninnyc (Aug 5, 2010)

Crawford was too obviously a bounder, so the answer would be no.  But it's strange how time changes everything.  These days the idea of a first cousin being an acceptable suitor just seems icky.  And I disliked Fanny who was quite the prig.  (They made her a budding writing in a recent film version which doesn't work for me either.)  I hated that she was proved right about everything at the end.  She was annoying.


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## Daphne (May 27, 2010)

LKRigel said:


> In those times, I would marry Henry Crawford if I were poor and he were the only one to ask. His most egregious faults aren't close to the depredations of poverty, especially for women then.


This brings to mind Charlotte Lucas's choice to marry Mr Collins. Elizabeth is shocked at this triumph of pragmatism over romance - but she probably knew she'd be married to Mr Darcy by the final chapter - not that I am going to ask who amongst you would have married Mr Collins.


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## Shayne Parkinson (Mar 19, 2010)

No, I wouldn't. Apart from the fact that I find arrogance a major turn-off, Henry's "bad boy" vibe doesn't do it for me. I'm quite sure he wouldn't be faithful to whomever he married; I don't think he'd even trouble himself to be nice to his wife once he became bored with her - and he _would_ become bored.

I'd take Colonel Brandon in a heartbeat.  Love with no hope of return, trying desperately to content himself with making his loved one happy. That suppressed but so definitely bubbling under the surface passion. His wife will be a very happy lady.

I love Wentworth too, of course. It almost goes without saying.  I'm re-reading _Persuasion _at the moment, as it happens.


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## Marioninnyc (Aug 5, 2010)

Daphne said:


> This brings to mind Charlotte Lucas's choice to marry Mr Collins. Elizabeth is shocked at this triumph of pragmatism over romance - but she probably knew she'd be married to Mr Darcy by the final chapter - not that I am going to ask who amongst you would have married Mr Collins.


I think it's different. Mr. Collins proves better than the first impression, and besides that however much the Bennett girls disliked him his faults would not have made him an awful husband. Crawford's true character was revealed by his actions. I think we're supposed to feel that Elizabeth and her sister were meant for someone finer than Mr. Collins whereas marrying Crawford would have been a disaster.


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## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

Marioninnyc said:


> I think it's different. Mr. Collins proves better than the first impression, and besides that however much the Bennett girls disliked him his faults would not have made him an awful husband. Crawford's true character was revealed by his actions. I think we're supposed to feel that Elizabeth and her sister were meant for someone finer than Mr. Collins whereas marrying Crawford would have been a disaster.


Mr. Collins would make a far better husband than Henry Crawford! He proves himself easily trained to stay in his own portions of the house, and he would _never_ bring home the clap. Nor would he squander the family fortune.

Though Crawford might do his wife the great favor of getting himself killed young in a duel.


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## drenfrow (Jan 27, 2010)

LKRigel said:


> Mr. Collins would make a far better husband than Henry Crawford! He proves himself easily trained to stay in his own portions of the house, and he would _never_ bring home the clap. Nor would he squander the family fortune.
> 
> Though Crawford might do his wife the great favor of getting himself killed young in a duel.


Haha!


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## Alice Y. Yeh (Jul 14, 2010)

LKRigel said:


> Mr. Collins would make a far better husband than Henry Crawford! He proves himself easily trained to stay in his own portions of the house, and he would _never_ bring home the clap. Nor would he squander the family fortune.
> 
> Though Crawford might do his wife the great favor of getting himself killed young in a duel.


If Mr. Collins had himself killed in a duel, you'd have to hope you had a son, or you'd get kicked out of the house because it would be entailed away. Joy.


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## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

AYY said:


> If Mr. Collins had himself killed in a duel, you'd have to hope you had a son, or you'd get kicked out of the house because it would be entailed away. Joy.


Good lord, yes. It's always something!


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## Daphne (May 27, 2010)

Shayne Parkinson said:


> No, I wouldn't. Apart from the fact that I find arrogance a major turn-off, Henry's "bad boy" vibe doesn't do it for me. I'm quite sure he wouldn't be faithful to whomever he married; I don't think he'd even trouble himself to be nice to his wife once he became bored with her - and he _would_ become bored.
> 
> I'd take Colonel Brandon in a heartbeat.  Love with no hope of return, trying desperately to content himself with making his loved one happy. That suppressed but so definitely bubbling under the surface passion. His wife will be a very happy lady.
> 
> I love Wentworth too, of course. It almost goes without saying.  I'm re-reading _Persuasion _at the moment, as it happens.


All this talk of Wentworth had me downloading Persuasion, so I am re-reading it too.


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## Shayne Parkinson (Mar 19, 2010)

Daphne said:


> All this talk of Wentworth had me downloading Persuasion, so I am re-reading it too.


I'm so pleased to hear that.  Companions in reading, half a world away.

I do love _Persuasion_.

Edited to add: and we both have "Jane Austen" as our status!


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## 13500 (Apr 22, 2010)

Shayne Parkinson said:


> I'm so pleased to hear that.  Companions in reading, half a world away.
> 
> I do love _Persuasion_.
> 
> Edited to add: and we both have "Jane Austen" as our status!


Yay--Jane Austen status. I mourn the loss of mine. Oh well, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's no slouch. 

I would like to re-read "Persuasion." I saw the "Masterpiece" production of it last year or two years ago, something like that, and I found that as I am getting older, I can appreciate the story more.

Karen


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## Shayne Parkinson (Mar 19, 2010)

KarenW.B. said:


> I would like to re-read "Persuasion." I saw the "Masterpiece" production of it last year or two years ago, something like that, and I found that as I am getting older, I can appreciate the story more.
> 
> Karen


I've found that, too: I've grown fonder and fonder of _Persuasion_ over the years as I've... ah... matured.  It's now my favourite Austen, though of course I still love them all (especially P&P). Anne has a maturity; a quiet strength and self-awareness that I admire greatly.


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