I like Crawford best !

“Fanny! You are killing me!"

"No man dies of love but on the stage, Mr. Crawford.”

The one-sided romance between Fanny Price and Henry Crawford is one the most popularized troupes employed in shows and movies (not to mention Mills and Boons’ love stories).  He is a rich, charming and dynamic but has safeguarded his heart and downsizes the concept of love and marriage. Until he meets her (or in this case views her from a new perspective).  At first she is just another source of entertainment for her (“my plan is to make Fanny Price in love with me”) but then he realizes that she is ‘the one’ for him and falls hopelessly in love with her.  Deep down, every girl has wanted to be that girl and some continue to do so. The one who swoons the ‘bad boy’ by her virtuosity.  And as rare as it may be in real life it can’t be denied that this definitely is the perfect formula for a clichéd love story. However in Mansfield Park, Fanny Price’s high moral standards deem Henry Crawford unworthy of her affection.

Henry Crawford is depicted as a dynamic, rich and charming gentleman whose wit makes him highly agreeable (as established in the “I like Julie best” scene with his sister). His interest and fascination with Navy possibly represents his ongoing war with the established moral code of the society. He is relentless in flirting with both the Bertham sisters- Maria and Julie- and then breaking their hearts. He had no qualms against pressing Maria’s hand to his heart, in front of her possible suitor, Mr. Rushworth. He duped Maria into thinking that he loved her enough to marry her (twice!).  Yet, not once he is shown to regret his actions.  

Not only that but he is conniving in his proposal. First he ruptures the sanctity of marriage to a mere barter system (her hand in return for her brother’s promotion). Then, he employs intimidation by notifying Thomas Bertham (the central authority of governance at Mansfield Park).

It is variably the dearth of morality in his personality which becomes his biggest hurdle in attaining the one woman he claimed to truly love.

Perhaps what could be thought of his ‘saving grace’ could be when he falls in love with Fanny Price. The amount of detail and sensitivity with which he views Fanny serves to accentuate the essence of her personality.

For instance when he is telling his sister Mary about Fanny working with her aunt,

“Had you seen her this morning Mary… attending with such ineffable sweetness and patience, to all the demands of her aunt’s stupidity, working with her, and for her, her colour beautifully heightened as she leant over the work, then returning to her seat to finish a note which she was previously engaged in writing for that stupid woman’s service, and all this with unpretending gentleness… "

And again when he observes her listening to her brother’s horrible voyage stories

“Fanny’s attractions increased—increased two-fold—for the sensibility which beautified her complexion and illumined her countenance, was an attraction in itself.  He was no longer in doubt of the capabilities of her heart.  She had feeling, genuine feeling.  It would be something to be loved by such a girl, to excite the first ardours of her young, unsophisticated mind!  She interested him more than he had foreseen.”

However he was never the correct fit for her (as evident in the necklace scene where it is Edmund's necklace and not Henry’s that is the perfect match with Fanny’s locket). His reaction towards Fanny’s rejection is reverting back to his old ways where he has an affair with a married woman, elopes with her who eventually leaves him because he doesn’t marry her.

Maybe Fanny was the type of salvation he was seeking. She represented all that was natural and not artificial (may be like other members of his social circle). Or maybe she intrigued him because she was different and not so easily charmed by him. But the questions remain regarding whether his love for Fanny was ‘real’ or not? Or was his ego more important to him ? His reaction to the rejection proves otherwise. But there are many different layers on which Crawford's character could be analysed, giving a better understanding of his feelings for Fanny.