As the heroine of Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, Fanny Price is not a charming, or brilliant, or outspoken character. She does not display the wit of an Elizabeth Bennett, or a Mary Crawford. She is not particularly strong, or beautiful, or good. Fanny is close to normal. Having no wealth, no position, daily reminded of her low status as "poor relation," Fanny has had no opportunity to express her own feelings. As a heroine, she lacks the verve and panache that readers may desire, but she is more real for the lack of it. She has flaws, such as jealousy and a tendency to sulk, but she tries to overcome them. Fanny could be considered a "milk and water miss," meaning she has little substance. But her aesthetic sense of beauty, among the dullness of her life, makes her a romantic character. She has had to overcome trials that, in the early 19th century, would be almost insurmountable. As a romantic heroine, Fanny Price is not only adequate. She is believable and endearing in the context of her position and time.
             Fanny Price has a good heart. She has a very active conscience, feeling others' concerns closely. When her aunts pull her about, she allows it, because that is her station, and because she is wants to be grateful. She feels guilty for not feeling as grateful as she thinks she should feel. She lacks that degree of gratitude because of the awkwardness of her position. She was uprooted as a child, taken away from all familiar things and family, to live in a home where she was not loved, or respected, or wanted, to be made to feel inadequate and inferior in every way. Were she to grow up in this atmosphere without an inferiority complex, she would have been quite an unbelievable character. Without a few flaws, her virtuousness would overwhelm.
             Fanny is a flawed character, but not to the degree that she becomes unlikable. It is impossible for any woman to watch the man she loves woo anothe...