In Defence of Edmund Bertram

I know that there are a lot of Mansfield Park -- and specifically Edmund Bertram -- haters here, and I could not disagree with them more. Here is my Defence of Edmund Bertram.

I'd like to start by saying that Edmund is 24. Yes, that's a full adult, but he still has a lot to learn and experience. He's about to start his profession, but he hasn't yet. He's still relatively inexperienced in the world at large. Of course, that's not an excuse for some of his actions, but it does add necessary context.

One of the things that I love about Edmund is that he makes mistakes in love. He goes against the convention, even in Austen's other novels, of typical masculinity. I think that the best character to compare Edmund to isn't Darcy or Knightly or Henry Tilney -- it's Marianne Dashwood. Both fall in love completely. Edmund falls in love with Mary Crawford, and he's blind to her faults for a long time. It's not malicious; it's infatuation. It's his first love. Does this result in his making mistakes? Absolutely! He neglects Fanny, his very good friend who suffers from ill health, and he does so in a way that could result in damage to her health (not being able to go out for her exercise, leaving her alone while he walks with Mary). A lot of people cite this as evidence for his poor or weak character, but it's a lot simpler than that. He's a boy making googly eyes at a girl, and he doesn't notice the damage that he's causing when he does it. Similarly, Marianne flouts social convention going on rides with Willoughby without a chaperone when they are not engaged. And some may say, "Well, Marianne's actions only harm herself while Edmund's could harm Fanny". Not necessarily. As see in P&P, woman deemed "fallen" can damage the reputation and marital prospects of her family, particularly sisters (which is why it's so important to get Lydia married ASAP). Marianne's actions could easily have damaged Elinor's reputation as well.

Edmund is a young man in love. He's an idiot. Absolutely an idiot. That's the point. He falls in love with a woman who's a poor match for him. They are not compatible in terms of temperment or morals, but he pursues her anyway. Why? Because love is not always logic. Edmund, a man who aspires to be a clergyman, is not as rational as he would like to believe himself. And that's okay.

Edmund grows over the course of the story. Does it take him too long to realize that Mary is manipulative and callous and not a good fit for him? Definitely. But once he does, he doesn't draw out the relationship. He ends it swiftly and surely, and he apologizes for his mistakes. He doesn't insist that he was right; he openly admits that he was blinded in love and overlooked a bunch of problems that he should have seen. He grows and becomes a better person.

I see a lot of people say that he doesn't deserve Fanny. That's true. He does not. However, at the end of the book, he's making improvements to himself. He realizes his mistakes with Mary, and he eventually grows to notice Fanny romantically, something he never would have done at the start of the book. He grows to appreciate her more, and he realizes that she's a good fit for him. Unlike with Mary, he and Fanny have similar temperments and morals. They're a good match. Does Edmund deserve her? No. Not yet. He still has some growing up to do once he leaves his father's roof. And Fanny can help him with that. She brings out the best in him.

Edmund isn't some romantic hero. He's no Mr. Darcy to smolder at you til you swoon, and he's no Henry Tilney to talk to you about muslins and tease you. He's a young man who's an idiot in love who makes stupid mistakes...and learns from them. At the end of the day, he's one of the most realistic Austen heros because he's not really that heroic. He's not perfect or even fully fixed by the end of the book. He still has some growing to do, and that's okay because he has Fanny to help him through it.

Edmund Bertram: Not the one you'd want to marry, but the one you're most likely to meet.

Thus ends my Defence of Edmund Bertram. These things are always more eloquent in one's head -- I'm certain there are things that I didn't say right and things I forgot to say, but I'd love to know your thoughts.