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Essay / Edmund's Compassion and Morality in Mansfield Park
While Edmund is initially shown to be compassionate and morally grounded as a character, he also shows that these qualities, as well as his own perceptions, are susceptible to 'be corrupted, mainly due to his romantic attachment to Miss Crawford despite his questionable moral foundations; These distortions of both Edmund's values and his social conscience lead Edmund to ignore Fanny's affections towards him and render him indifferent to Fanny's well-being: Edmund's lack of respect for Fanny greatly renders him party responsible for the decline of his physical and mental abilities. health that she experiences throughout the novel. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Fanny's first encounters with Edmund during his transition to life in Mansfield Park show something contrary to the detachment Edmund exhibits later in the novel. During these encounters, the reader learns a lot about Edmund's good character in just a few pages. Edmond demonstrates his kindness towards the reader by helping Fanny write a letter to her brother who she sorely misses: “He continued with her all the time she was writing, to help her with her penknife or her spelling, depending on whether the 'one or the other was necessary; and added to these attentions, which she felt very much, a kindness for her brother, which delighted her more than anything. (17). Edmund didn't have to console Fanny, much less help her write a letter to her brother, but he kindly did it anyway. The reader also learns of Edmund's "common sense and uprightness of mind" (21) from Sir Thomas's point of view, confirming the idea that Edmund is a morally upright young man by nature. Finally, the narrator lists that his [Edmund's] "attentions were otherwise of the highest importance in helping him to improve his mind and extend his pleasures." (22). Even the narrator bluntly tells the reader that Edmund remains vitally important to Fanny's mental health and learning potential, which leaves Edmund with a great deal of responsibility for his cousin. Edmund clearly shows his continued dedication to Fanny's care as well as his first major misstep with such responsibility in how he handles Fanny's new horse. Edmund's provision of a new horse to Fanny once again demonstrates his good will, particularly due to the fact that he has exchanged one of his own horses for this one: "this third [horse], he decided to trade it for one that his cousin could ride...the whole deal. was soon finished. (36). It's a big moment in their relationship, but that same horse quickly becomes a problem after the story introduces Mary Crawford. The only reason Edmund bought the horse was so that Fanny would exercise and stay in good physical condition instead of wasting away at home, but Edmund seems to lose sight of this when Miss Crawford enters the picture. He hints to Fanny that "Miss Crawford would be happy to have her longer", even if he knew of Fanny's failing health. Although Edmund did not intentionally make Fanny sick, especially without his knowledge of the torturous chores her aunts would assign to her if she remained without the ability to ride a horse, Edmund still cannot escape some responsibility for the lack of consideration he had. for his cousin in this case. His ignorance of Fanny's behavior has great consequences for Fanny. Continuing this trend, the lover's vow fiasco highlights an even greater failure of Edmund's moral sensitivity and commitment to Fanny's well-being. Injustifying his role in the play, Edmund tries to reason that by taking the role in the play he is really doing Sir Thomas a favor by not letting strangers into the house, but this decision Edmund makes has without any doubt of ulterior motives, namely that Mary agreed to perform the play and that Edmund “…was obliged to recognize that the charm of acting might well bring fascination to the mind of genius; and with the ingenuity of love…” (120). Edmund's justification of the play for this reason can only show that its moral foundation has the capacity to be altered, especially if the person doing the altering is a charming young woman. It seems that Edmund is so infatuated with Mary Crawford that he not only knowingly goes against what his father would have wanted, but he also blatantly ignores Fanny's discomfort with the online rehearsals between him and Miss Crawford. Fanny had already shown her displeasure with the idea of a play, so Edmund knew better than to ask her opinion on the rehearsed lines with Mary, and worse still was the fact that Edmund and Mary took on the anxiety and Fanny's discomfort due to exhaustion. This can also be explained by Edmond's drunken attraction to Marie; perhaps if he had devoted himself more soberly to Miss Crawford's affections he might have understood how much Fanny was suffering. Fanny's suffering is only exacerbated by Henry's proclamations of love for her. Perhaps the worst failure of Edmund's blurred vision of judgment manifests itself in his haste to tolerate and even support his cousin Fanny's relationship and possible marriage to Henry Crawford. It is clear that his motives are not simply to wish Fanny the best, but rather to test himself: "'A gentle and continued reaction is the best safeguard of manners and conduct.' Fanny could guess very well where his thoughts were now. Miss Crawford's power was returning. (323-324). At a time when Edmund is supposed to be giving Fanny sound advice about her future choices, he has instead decided to ruminate on his own relationship with Mary Crawford! Worse still, Edmund approves of Sir Thomas's plan to send Fanny back to Portsmouth in order to make her become Henry. The reader knows that Edmund is aware of Fanny's poor health, but he examined the plan anyway, "...considered it in every aspect and saw nothing other than what was just." (341). Not only does he support manipulating his cousin into marrying someone she doesn't love, but he also threatens her physical health by sending her to an overburdened, poor family with a careless mother and an alcoholic father. . Indeed, he would be willing to condemn her to adverse conditions and unstable emotional environments just to ease the tension between her and Mary, the two people he cares about most. This is the most damning evidence of Mary's perversion of Edmund's kindness and morality that would cause direct physical and mental distress to Fanny. Fanny recognizes early on the blinding effects that Mary has on Edmund's good judgment, but due to her own gentle nature, she feels helpless in the situation and forces herself to agree with Edmund on "As She Walks GOOD ! And with what ease she bends to the inclinations of others! (105). At first glance, this could simply be attributed to quiet jealousy and dismissed as insignificant, but it is a theme that recurs often throughout the novel. This theme finally reaches its climax when the author depicts Fanny resigning herself to Edmund's satisfaction with Miss Crawford's unscrupulous character and even the inevitability of their marriage: ...the more she remembered and observed, the more deeply convinced she became that everything was.