MovieChat Forums > Mansfield Park (1999) Discussion > Regarding Edmund

Regarding Edmund

posted 17 years ago by nefjones
16 replies | jump to latest

I have read a couple of comments here regarding Edmund's coldness towards Fanny, and questions about his affections about her.. but this movie suggests and I am pondering another line of thought... perhaps, Edmund was simply trying to do the "right" thing by choosing Mary Crawford over Fanny. He and Fanny were brought up like sister and brother... maybe in his rigid little mind (and we all know there was no lack of rigidity there) it was better that he be with Mary and Fanny be with Henry because that was the right thing to do...

ponder on..

[–] weaselfrance 17 years ago

How can I put this delicately? When Edmund met Mary he wasn't influenced by his brain.

His infatuation led him to overlook or minimise Mary's many faults and doing the 'right thing' never crossed his mind, IMO.

Edmund was the only person in the whole family who showed any affection and concern for Fanny, but it took him a long time to see her as more than a sister. Personally, I wasn't very convinced with the romance element of this novel. I thought Fanny deserved better. But she loved him, so she ended up happy. The main thing is she escaped the clammy paws of the creep Crawford!

The people have appointed me. I am their leader. I must follow them.

[–] PinkWeeds 17 years ago

Edmond found himself in the same trap many young men find themselves in, after reading the novel I truly felt that he did love Mary. And I agree that Fanny did deserve better than Edmond. She placed him on a pedestal much like he did with Mary and was blind to all of his faults. He had a rather nasty habit of persuading Fanny into things she was against. Riding horses, living with an emotionally abusive aunt and he certainly tried his best to persuade her to marry Crawford.

[–] White_base_groupie 17 years ago

He didn't persuade her to ride horses; she liked that.

[–] weaselfrance 17 years ago

True, it was Sir Thomas who insisted Fanny learn to ride even though she was scared to at first. But she came to love it later, and Edmund (eventually) helped her to carry on doing something she loved when no one else would have made the effort.

The people have appointed me. I am their leader. I must follow them.

[–] dreamflower530 17 years ago

I disagree with anyone who says that Edmund is cold to or ignores Fanny throughout the film. From the moment he comforts her after her arrival, it was plain to me that he was in love with her.
When I watch this relationship (have many, many times) I saw a thinly veiled adoration between the two of them. He does try to mask it by being with Mary, but it never disappears. I think he did love Mary at least somewhat, but even so it's easy to see that she's a third wheel. Even she remarks on that at some point.
I mean, he even lets slip to his father that he's in love with Fanny when he mentions that the "well known family" is not the Crawfords, but the Prices.

And if anyone has doubts about Jonny Lee Miller's charisma, just watch Eli Stone. He can hold his own as a leading man. Really.

[–] lilyp07 17 years ago

Just saw this movie again last night and finally realized where I had seen the guy who plays Eli Stone! Knew he was familiar! Love that show, by the way.

Anyway, I think it was obvious that Edmond loved Fanny, Mary even says it to him at the ball. He says that he does love her but there are many forms of love. I think this is just a cover up because he probably didn't think it was proper to marry her, and his father said that Mary made a good match for him. Weren't they cousins too? I was confused by the whole family structure, sorry for my idiocy!

And I never read the novel, but was wondering if there was ever anything improper that happend between the father and Fanny? It seemed so in the film. Like he was attracted to her or something.

"George Bailey, I'll love you til the day I die."

[–] thechery 17 years ago

in the book edmund was much more caring, sensitive, and sweet, especially to fanny. i thought jonny lee miller was a bit emotionless. cold even. he didnt capture the essence of edmund at all.

[–] PinkWeeds 17 years ago

I found Edmund much more likeable in the movie than in the book- he seemed way more cold and "rigid" in the novel and I really hated that he ended up with Fanny.

[–] XfilesMystic 17 years ago

Compared to the book, I feel as though Edmund came out more in the movie. I enjoyed him more. Maybe it's because I see it being acted out.

[–] lilyphoenix4 16 years ago

I totally agree with the two comments above mine, though I have to say, I'm not quite an expert since I haven't read the novel in a really long time.

Again, I'm not quite sure about the novel, but in the movie it's clear that he's always loved Fanny. He's just a little slow in realizing it.
I don't think he actually loved Mary Crawford, because after all, it turned out that he was idolizing her and thought she was a totally different person. And that's the way I prefer to think of it in the novel too.

[–] sunnyblueskies 16 years ago

I just watched this movie for the first time in a long time, and I was shocked by the thinly veiled, well, romantic tension between Fanny and Edmund. I think that they played it out very well. They were brother and sister, so I don't think they really thought about their love being more than platonic until the Crawfords came into the picture and showed them how well-suited they were to one another. Edmund pushed for Fanny to marry Crawford because he thought she would be better off. Maybe he thought that was what she wanted. Edmund chose Mary because Fanny was (supposedly) going to pick Henry, and because that was what was expected of him. Sir Thomas made it very clear that Fanny wasn't exactly suitable for Edmund.

I don't know. I'm just saying.

[–] joyfarrah 15 years ago

They were not brother and sister! They had been brought up like brother and sister, but there was no bar to their marrying if they wished to do so. Edmund didn't think of Fanny as a "romantic interest" at the beginning. Seh was too young and he saw her as a friend.. and of course his father did not wish him to marry a penniless girl liek Fanny

Edmund then fell in love with Mary who was pretty, exciting and different. It was not until well after Edmund had begun to take an interest in Mary that Henry took an interest in Fanny.... Edmund pushed for F to marry Henry partly becauase he thoought it woudl be a gooid match for her in financail and social terms and also becuase he genuinely beleived/wanted to beleive that the Crawfords were good people and that he would be happy with Mary and that Henry turly loved Fanny and would make her happy. But of course Mary is too selfish to adjust to being a clergyman's wife and sharing Edmund's ideals and Henry was too selfish to refrom himslef enough to make a good husband for Fanny

[–] randommovies2002 15 years ago

They had been brought up like brother and sister

Not really. There was always a distinction made between the Bertram children and Miss Price.

[–] Ilario1 15 years ago

In this movie, I always felt the undercurrent of love between Fanny and Edmund. They were best friends and knew each other so well. Edmond's affection for her was always there from what I saw. It was his father who started him on Mary Crawford because he wasn't even thinking about her. He thought his father was talking about Fanny the whole time, lol.

[–] schoolqueen12 15 years ago

I personally think Edmund and Fanny deserved each other in the end, what a great couple. Definitely going to experience a lot of happiness!

[–] angela_bees 9 years ago

I just to put this out there for Austen fans. Go onto and type in Amanda Grange in the Books search.

She's written some brilliant diaries of the Jane Austen heroes. You can read the stories through their eyes, but also some of them go back to the time of major events in their lives.

Read about Colonel Brandon's doomed first love or the near elopement of Mr Darcy's sister.

First time I read these, I couldn't put them down.