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Jane Austen

take control of, and organise a woman’s life for her. Although Fanny represents female resistance by opposing Sir Thomas’s judgement, Austen conveys the over-powering pressure that she feels as “She could say no more; her breath was almost gone”1. Fanny’s weak position is shown through the punctuation and structure of her sentences, as she often begins to protest, but then breaks off at a dash, unable to continue. This contrasts with the clarity of Sir Thomas’s speech, in which he conveys a tone of certainty and finality, whilst speaking with ease. He is confident, and sure of his thoughts; so sure in fact, that he tries to impose them on Fanny, and will use any kind of pressure or cruelty to force her to comply with his decision that she should marry. Sir Thomas trying to persuade Fanny to marry emphasises the fact that Austen’s novels operate around the framework of love, marriage and money. Many of the characters believe that there is no future development open to women of their class but marriage and the upbringing of children, making Fanny seem extremely unusual when she turns down Henry’s offer. This relates to the Marxist view that “dominant visible forms taken by modes of physical and social reproduction through history have been family and kinship structures”2, which utilises the gender positions of male power and female subservience. Austen uses words such as “career”, to reminds us that marriage was a woman’s livelihood, her “career” in the sense that it was her life’s work, and that she would grab any marriage that had good financial prospects.2_______________________________1 Mansfield Park, Jane Austen (Penguin, 1994), p2602 Criticism and Ideology, Terry Eagleton (Oxford University Press, 1976), p79EL2 – Essay 2Angela BathgateTutor – Julie MarneyIn the society and culture that Austen depicts, the male is regarded as...

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