SOURCE: “Feminist Irony and the Priceless Heroine of Mansfield Park,” in Jane Austen: New Perspectives, edited by Janet Todd, Holmes & Meier Publishers, Inc., 1983, pp. 231-47.

In the following essay, Kirkham outlines the irony of Fanny Price's characterization in Mansfield Park as it subtly mocks the sentimental conduct-book ideal of womanhood.

“‘I do not quite know what to make of Miss Fanny. I do not understand her.’” So says Henry Crawford (Mansfield Park, p. 230).¹ What to make of Miss Fanny is the central moral puzzle Jane Austen presents to her anti-hero. He fails to discover the correct solution. It is also the central puzzle presented to the reader, testing the soundness of his moral attitudes and the quickness of his wits. It may be that the author misjudged what could be expected of her readers, for they have not, by and large, solved the riddle of Miss Price satisfactorily...