Why is Fanny Price so easily tired? In chapter 10, she walks less than half a mile in a wood and has to sit down and have a rest. Her cousin Edmund says she gets tired after any exercise except horse riding. I hope she doesn't have some ghastly wasting disease.
According to Aldous Huxley, D.H. Lawrence once said that Balzac was 'a gigantic dwarf', and in a sense the same is true of Dickens.
Charles Dickens, by George Orwell
Fitness, even then, was a lifestyle choice.
"Love does not alter the beloved, it alters itself"
Fanny was something of a hypochondriac. If Mrs. Norris made her walk twice across the park; if Mary Crawford and Edmund flirted; if Maria flirted with Henry Crawford while engaged to Mr. Rushworth -- Fanny developed a headache. She was fit enough to walk around the quay with Mr. Crawford when he visited Portsmouth, and was at his most attractive. Undoubtedly she wasn't the fittest or most athletic girl, but she also suffered, at times, from malaise of the spirit.
Rather Fanny is deeply depressed in her early days at Mansfield, being endlessly put down. At Portsmouth she is mature enough to have her own opinion of the family and confident enough to maintain her self respect. That is why she is not ill at Portsmouth rather than fancying Henry.
Previously JonathanB
The more I read, the more I shall covet to read. Robert Burton The Anatomy of Melancholy Partion3, Section 1, Member 1, Subsection 1
I didn't mean to suggest she was changing her mind about Henry. But when her mood brightens, so does her health.
Ecurb, from the mountains where phone coverage is spotty.
Enjoy the mountain air, ecurb
Previously JonathanB
The more I read, the more I shall covet to read. Robert Burton The Anatomy of Melancholy Partion3, Section 1, Member 1, Subsection 1
I have just been reading that section. It said she was not getting enough exercise and would not have been strong enough to go for a walk along the ramparts without the wind blowing her over, not without Henry's arm to lean on. Henry thinks the sea air is beginning to spoil her looks. She's only 18. I started wondering whether she has tuberculosis. She needs to take up circuits or go to a spinning class.Originally Posted by Jackson Richardson
According to Aldous Huxley, D.H. Lawrence once said that Balzac was 'a gigantic dwarf', and in a sense the same is true of Dickens.
Charles Dickens, by George Orwell
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