Sir Thomas is the King Lear of Mansfield Park and Fanny Price is his 
Cordelia. I don't propose that Jane Austen borrowed so very much
from the Shakespeare tragedy. - there is no madness or murder in 
Jane Austen's story. I merely want to evoke some sense of that; there
are some elements of Cordelia and Lear in the Mansfield characters. 
Fanny saw all that was dishonorable and persisted in doing the
honorable thing herself.