In Mansfield Park, Jane Austen presents her readers with a dilemma: Fanny Price is the heroine of the story, but she lacks the qualities that Jane Austen usually presents in her protagonists, while Mary Crawford, the antihero, has these qualities. Mary is active, effective and witty, just like Austen's heroines Emma Woodhouse and Elizabeth Bennet. In contrast to this is Fanny, who is shy, complacent and dim-witted. Austen provides Mary with rapid, sharp, even occasionally shocking passages of dialogue, while Fanny often doesn't speak for pages at a time. When he does, his speeches are typically banal and forgettable. In Mansfield Park, Austen largely bases Fanny's position as the protagonist on the fact that Fanny adheres to the moral standards of Austen's era. Mary Crawford is a more satisfying and attractive heroine, but because of her modern-era sensibilities and uncertain moral fiber, she cannot fulfill this role. Part of what makes Mary Crawford an attractive candidate for the story's heroine is her ability to act. Throughout Mansfield Park, Mary actively participates in Mansfield Park activities, such as taking part in many conversations, arguing her point of view, riding horses, entertaining herself and others with her harp, and reciting the Oaths of Love. Fanny pales in comparison in terms of activity level. As for horseback riding, Fanny is assisted when she rides, either by a groomsman or by her cousins ​​(Mansfield Park, 59). When Edmund decides to provide Fanny with a horse, he does so with a view to her health, not her happiness, for he intends "to provide Fanny with the immediate means of exercise, which he could not bear her to be without" (Mansfield Park, 32). Edmund's concern is that the horse is good for Fanny'... half of the paper... presents her ambiguously between morally reprehensible and simply blunt and ahead of her time. Mary Crawford is not the heroine of Mansfield Park. The heroines of Jane Austen's novels end up getting married to the man they love and this is not Mary's fate. Mary had the opportunity to become a heroic figure but she didn't take it. If Mary had changed her ways, if she had put her feelings for Edmund above her desire for wealth, her character development and change of heart would have made her acceptable to Regency-era audiences. However, she is firm in her opinions and makes no concessions. Mary's stubbornness, disregard for the standards of the times, and wit make her unsuitable as a heroine when the book was published. However, in contemporary times these characteristics appeal to audiences, as is more likely to relate to Mary's practical, albeit controversial, views..