How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Children of the same family, the same blood, with the same first associations and habits, have some means of enjoyment in their power which no subsequent connections can supply; and it must be by a long and unnatural estrangement [...] if such precious remains of the earliest attachments are ever entirely outlived (24.18).
The huge impact of childhood on an adult's personality is a major theme in Mansfield Park. Here, childhood bonds and memories of childhood are crucial in linking Fanny and William, even though they have spent most of their lives apart.
Quote #8
Nothing remained of last night but remembrances, which she had nobody to share in (29.4).
Fanny's shyness often means that she's very lonely. Here she's unable to share her memories with anyone and must carry them around by herself. Though these memories are happy, this section implies that memories not shared can become a burden.
Quote #9
"I am aware, more aware than Crawford can be, that the man who means to make you love him [...] must have very uphill work, for there are all your early attachments and habits in battle array; and before he can get your heart for his own use, he has to unfasten it from all the holds upon things animate and inanimate, which so many years' growth has confirmed, and which are considerably tightened for the moment by the very idea of separation" (35.21).
Edmund gives a right-on-the-money assessment of Fanny and her total reluctance to change or evolve. Fanny is highly in touch with memory and the past, which can be a good thing. But she also seems practically tied down by the past, which is bad. Fanny doesn't exist fully in the present and she doesn't change or evolve in a healthy way.