Heartwarming moments from the book
- Edmund finds young Fanny crying and tries to comfort her. A teenage boy who takes care of his small 10-year-old cousin is a rare sight. Him helping her write a letter to her dearest brother William is especially endearing.
- Fanny feeling sorry for Sir Thomas Bertram despite the fact that he verbally abuses her.
- The realization that, for all her fault, Mary Crawford does love Edmund.
- Fanny refuses to say anything that will hurt her cousins' reputation, even though speaking up about Crawford and Maria's flirtation would stop Fanny from getting berated instantly.
- Fanny's gradual realization of Susan's merits, and Susan's joy at finding someone else who loves her and whom she can both love and esteem.
- William Price is full of grandiose plans for his advancement in the Navy (which inevitably involve the first lieutenant dying so he can heroically take charge), the adventures he'll have, and the prizes he'll win. Among these schemes, though, are a comfy little cottage just for himself and Fanny to spend their lives.
- Susan being offered residence at Mansfield Park where she finds happiness under the love of Bertrams.
Heartwarming moments from its adaptations
- Sir Thomas is mostly stern and rather unsympathetic in the film, but when Maria talks to him about her impending marriage to Mr Rushworth and admits that she knows her father thinks he's an idiot, Sir Thomas doesn't hesitate to tell her that if she has any reservations about the marriage, then she needn't worry: he'll break it off and make sure everything is okay. He's paternalistic and sexist and he has a distinct double standard when it comes to Fanny's chances of marriage, but he sincerely wants his daughters to be happy.
- When Thomas is seriously ill and Fanny returns, at Edmund's request, to look after him, Sir Thomas' reaction on seeing her (he sent her away in the first place) is relief that she's back, because there have been "too many estrangements". Then he remembers his eldest son's childhood habit of asking to be given a mission, so Sir Thomas would give him some minor errand to do, but young Thomas would say no and ask for a noble mission. It's his recognition that he has spent his own life doing something shameful, and that his son is the better man.
- In the 1999 movie, Sir Thomas' recognition that Fanny, not he, has been the Only Sane Man:Sir Thomas: You read it, Fanny. You have such a strong, clear voice.
- At the end, Sir Thomas gets rid of his business interests (i.e. his slave plantation) in Antigua and he's walking with his wife in the garden. She looks cheerful and fond of him, and is more lively than she's been for the entire film, much of which she has spent in a laudanum-induced daze.
- In the 1983 miniseries, when Fanny is invited to dinner at the Parsonage. Just after Mrs Norris has delivered yet another lengthy "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Fanny and told her that she'll have to go there on foot, Sir Thomas walks into the room and casually asks when would be convenient for the carriage to come round. When Mrs Norris protests, he states flatly that no niece of his is going to walk to a dinner engagement. In the next scene, Fanny is riding in the carriage with Edmund, with the biggest, happiest smile on her face that she's worn in the series to that point.
