(This conversation will contain spoilers for the current chapters and possibly for future chapters.)

S: Oh, Edmund! He is certainly not seeing what the reader is seeing regarding Miss Crawford. Her jab at the clergy he takes as a joke, yet I am certain she is as uninterested in the Church as he is interested in it. And poor Fanny – once again she is forgotten and spoken to harshly. Although I dislike Miss Crawford, she does understand the scene – Fanny has indeed not been given compliments as much as she deserves them.

R: Edmund is blinded by first love. I wonder whether Miss Crawford realises that he’s got a crush on her and is leading him on, or if she actually likes him a little. She certainly ends up in his and Fanny’s company often enough. 

I almost felt sorry for Sir Thomas at the beginning of this chapter. While he’s not a great father, I feel like the horror of his return was a little over the top. The Bertram girls just don’t want him ruining their fun. 

S: I read the horror at his return as less horror and more kind of like he’s the stoic father who can’t really see anything past business; a stick in the mud.

It appears that my first impression of Dr. and Mrs. Grant was wrong – according to both Miss Crawford and Mr. Bertram they quarrell quite often. How hard for Fanny, too, to know that Mr. Crawford prefers Miss Bertram yet second guesses herself because Edmund tells her she is wrong. Tom certainly is very selfish, but I can’t argue with him that it is very vexing when someone asks you to do something in such a way that makes it very difficult for you to say ‘no’ – manipulation at its finest.

R: I’d forgotten Tom was even gone when he came back! I was surprised to see that Miss Crawford does actually seem to like Edmund for himself, despite his intention to take orders. Now I wonder if she thinks she can talk him out of it.

Mr. Crawford is definitely playing games with the Miss Bertrams, and I see that as going very badly sometime soon. I just have to shake my head that Edmund doesn’t see what’s happening when Fanny points it out.

I thought it was funny that Fanny was so interested in dancing with Tom. He’s so self-absorbed that I can’t see why she’d care. In general, Fanny seems to have much better discernment of people than anyone else. 

S: I think it was less interested in dancing with Tom and more just wanting to be included and be young like everyone else. I do agree with you, though, that she has the best discernment out of anyone we’ve met. 

Edmund’s infatuation with Miss Crawford, I am afraid, is making him question his morals and ideals. He brings up some good points about not wanting to have those in his family put on a play, but once he is informed of Miss Crawford’s joining, seems to change his tune a bit. I wonder what this will mean for the future and if it will tarnish Miss Bertram’s reputation as Edmund thinks it will.

R: This seemed like another rather odd chapter to me. We are introduced to yet another character, John Yates, who is an acquaintance of Tom. He shows up, invited but unexpectedly early, and induces the others to get in on his scheme of putting on a play. 

Some of Edmund’s objections seem to stem from the cost of putting together a stage. With the debts Tom had wracked up before his father took him away, I can understand Edmund’s concern. The rest, respecting their father’s scruples and protecting the reputations of his sisters, are also noble. I don’t like that he lets Miss Crawford sway him from his convictions. I hope she doesn’t have too great an influence on him.

S: Chapter 14 is hilarious to me. It reminds me of being in a group as a child or teenager and trying to figure out what to do – feelings get hurt, decisions are not easily made – it’s all so elementary school and middle school. And, – oh dear! – Fanny knows that this play is rather raunchy and is very surprised that it should have been chosen by her family and their friends.

R: I find all of these people tiresome, at best. And yes, they are all acting like children. Edmund’s views of doing the play are entirely vindicated by this and by how inappropriate the content is. As determined as they all are, though, I don’t think Edmund will be able to stop them.

S: What in the world is happening in Chapter 15? My goodness, Mrs. Norris is really pushing my buttons! She is absolutely horrible to Fanny and so very unkind to others! I think what really makes me angry is that I know exactly how Fanny feels because something similar has happened to me on multiple occasions where I have felt bullied and unheard, thinking that I’m at fault for not wanting to do something when the truth is I have just as much a right to say ‘no’ to something as the other people have to ask. 

R: Mrs. Norris is such an odd one. On the one hand, she expects extreme propriety from Fanny in most cases, but seems to have no problem with any of her nieces acting in a highly inappropriate play, even just among family and friends, to the point of actually nearly forcing Fanny to participate, despite it being more than obvious that Fanny doesn’t want to.

S: I’m not a fan of Miss Crawford because we know that she’s good at the game she’s playing, but I do appreciate that she saw Fanny’s agitation and embarrassment and tried to console her even though it was probably mostly to get back into Edmund’s good graces. Speaking of Edmund, I’m rather surprised he didn’t help Fanny until after Mrs. Norris flipped her lid, but I wonder if this was because he was trying to encourage her to speak her mind and stick to her convictions. At least it appears he knows the play as well and is extremely put out that it is being performed.

R: I don’t think I like any of the characters in this book so far, except for Fanny and Edmund, and even Edmund is rankling me a bit at this point. I can see that he might be trying to nudge Fanny to take more initiative or self-advocacy, but under the circumstances, I think he would have been better to help her out. I agree that Miss Crawford was good in this scene to help comfort Fanny, despite the fact that she may have had ulterior motives.

S: This story is so differently written than Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, and to be honest, I have some trepidation about reading on simply because so many of the characters are difficult to enjoy reading. However, soldier on I will! It’s Jane Austen, so I know that it must end on a happy note! Perhaps I just need to try and read it with humour and a ‘bless their hearts!’ attitude.

R: I agree with you there! It’s really almost like there’s no protagonist in the story, just a really bad ensemble cast.

S: That’s it! It also feels like she’s experimenting with a different writing style, so maybe that’s why it feels strange.