ABSTRACT
There are a number of brilliant essays which explain "what Jane Austen meant by the creation of such a heroine" as Fanny Price. This chapter examines certain aspects of the aesthetic and thematic structures of Mansfield Park with the object of understanding how Jane Austen meant us to think and feel about Fanny Price. Mansfield Park is not only about Fanny getting her wishes; it is also about Fanny getting her due. The novel is clearly a variation on the Cinderella story. Edmund appreciates Fanny's value, but everyone else treats her as personally and socially inferior. Fanny moves from having only one friend and many detractors to gaining the highest respect from a wide circle of admirers. Her primary enemy is Aunt Norris, who tries always to make sure that she is "lowest and last". Fanny's happiness seems in greatest jeopardy during her visit to Portsmouth. Mansfield Park is a wish fulfillment fantasy of embeddedness.
