International Journal of Literature and Arts

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Discipline, Resistance and Self-Improvement: Three Phases in the Growth of Fanny Price

Received: 20 July 2014    Accepted: 31 July 2014    Published: 10 August 2014
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Abstract

Fanny Price is a remarkable heroine of Mansfield Park written by Jane Austen. Based on Michel Foucault’s power theory and the related theories about subjectivity construction, this paper aims at analyzing how Fanny tries to adopt, resist and make the most of the underlying various power mechanisms in a patriarchal society and how she achieves her own self-education and self-improvement. It contends that through three phases of discipline, resistance and self-improvement, Fanny successfully transforms herself from an inferior “outsider” into a noble and elegant lady welcomed by the middle class in British society in the early 19th century.

DOI 10.11648/j.ijla.20140204.16
Published in International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 2, Issue 4, July 2014)
Page(s) 123-129
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Fanny Price, Mansfield Park, Michel Foucault, Disciplinary Power, Technologies of the Self

References
[1] A. Fleishman, A Reading of Mansfield Park: An Essay in Critical Synthesis, Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1967.
[2] N. Auerbach, “Jane Austen’s dangerous charm—feeling as one ought about Fanny Price”, In Jane Austen: New Perspectives, Janet Todd, Eds. New York and London: Holmes and Meier, 1983, pp.208-223.
[3] M. Kirkham, Jane Austen, Feminism and Fiction, Brighton, UK: Harvester Press, 1983; New York: Methuen, 1986.
[4] S. C. Greenfield, “Fanny’s misreading and the misreading of Fanny: women, literature, and interiority in Mansfield Park”, Texas Studies in Literature and Language, 1994, vol. 36. 3, pp.306-322.
[5] A. Despotopoulou, “Fanny’s gaze and the construction of feminine space in Mansfield Park,” The Modern Language Review, 2004, vol. 99. 3, pp. 569–583.
[6] M. Chan, Vision and Visibility: Power and the Observer in Jane Austen’s Novels. Hamilton: McMaster University, 2002, unpublished.
[7] Minan Wang, “Power,” In Key Words of Western Literary Theory, Yifan Zhao, Zhongzai Zhang, and De’en Li, Eds. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2006, pp. 442–456.
[8] Minan Wang, “Foucault,” Foreign Literature, 2010, vol 3, pp. 83–93.
[9] M. Foucault, “The eye of power,” In Power/Knowledge: Selected Interview and Other Writings 1972–1974, Colin Gordon, Eds. Hetfordshire: Harvester Press Limited, 1980, pp. 146–165.
[10] Weiming Mo, The Destiny of Subject--A Study of Foucault’s Philosophy (Zhuti de Mingyun--Fuke Zhexue Sixiang Yanjiu). Shanghai: the Joint Publishing Company Ltd, 1996.
[11] Binghui Chen, “Foucault’s outlook on power (Fuke de quanli guan),” Journal of Xiamen University (Social Sciences), 2002, vol. 4, pp. 84–90.
[12] M. Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of a Prison, Trans. A. Sheridan, London: Penguin Books, 1991.
[13] M. Lane, Jane Austen’s World: The Life and Times of England’s Most Popular Novelist, London: Carlton Books Limited, 2005.
[14] J. Austen, Mansfield Park, In Selected Works of Jane Austen, Shanghai: World Publishing Corporation, 1814.
[15] L. Gamman, “Watching the detectives: the enigma of the female gaze,” In The Female Gaze: Women as Viewers of Popular Culture, L. Gamman and M. Marshment, Eds. Seattle: Real Comet Press, 1989, pp.15–16.
[16] L.H.Martin, Et al. Technologies of the Self: A Seminar with Michel Foucault, Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1988.
[17] M. Foucault, The Use of Pleasure, In The History of Sexuality Volume 2, Trans. Robert Hurley, New York: Pantheon Books, 1985.
[18] M. Foucault, The Care of the Self, In The History of Sexuality Volume 3, Trans. Robert Hurley, New York: Pantheon Books, 1986.
[19] P. Knox-Shaw, “Fanny Price refuses to kowtow,” The Review of English Studies, New Series, 1996, vol. 47. 186, pp. 212–217.
[20] D. Murray, “Spectatorship in Mansfield Park: looking and overlooking,” Nineteenth-Century Literature, 1997, vol. 52. 1, pp. 1–26.
[21] Dachun Yang, “A new subject--a discussion of Foucault’s later thoughts (Bieyi zhong zhuti—lun Fuke wanqi sixiang de zhiyi),” Zhejiang Social Sciences, 2002, vol. 3, pp. 169-173.
[22] G. Deleuze, Pourparlers (Zhexue yu quanli de tanpan),Trans. Liu Hanquan, Nanjing: Yilin Press, 2012.
Author Information
  • College of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan, China

  • College of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan, China

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    Yingying DENG, Joan Qionglin TAN. (2014). Discipline, Resistance and Self-Improvement: Three Phases in the Growth of Fanny Price. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 2(4), 123-129. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20140204.16

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    Yingying DENG; Joan Qionglin TAN. Discipline, Resistance and Self-Improvement: Three Phases in the Growth of Fanny Price. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2014, 2(4), 123-129. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20140204.16

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    Yingying DENG, Joan Qionglin TAN. Discipline, Resistance and Self-Improvement: Three Phases in the Growth of Fanny Price. Int J Lit Arts. 2014;2(4):123-129. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20140204.16

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijla.20140204.16,
      author = {Yingying DENG and Joan Qionglin TAN},
      title = {Discipline, Resistance and Self-Improvement: Three Phases in the Growth of Fanny Price},
      journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
      volume = {2},
      number = {4},
      pages = {123-129},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20140204.16},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20140204.16},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20140204.16},
      abstract = {Fanny Price is a remarkable heroine of Mansfield Park written by Jane Austen. Based on Michel Foucault’s power theory and the related theories about subjectivity construction, this paper aims at analyzing how Fanny tries to adopt, resist and make the most of the underlying various power mechanisms in a patriarchal society and how she achieves her own self-education and self-improvement. It contends that through three phases of discipline, resistance and self-improvement, Fanny successfully transforms herself from an inferior “outsider” into a noble and elegant lady welcomed by the middle class in British society in the early 19th century.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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