Mansfield Park

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Mansfield Park
Author Jane Austen
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Genre(s) Bildungsroman
Publisher Mr. Egerton
Publication date July 1814
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
ISBN NA
Preceded by Pride and Prejudice
Followed by Emma
For other uses, see Mansfield Park (disambiguation).

Mansfield Park is a novel by Jane Austen, written at Chawton Cottage between 1812 and 1814. It was published in July 1814 by Thomas Egerton, who published Jane Austen's two earlier novels, Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice. When the novel reached a second edition, its publication was taken over by John Murray, who also published its successor, Emma.

Contents

[edit] Plot summary

The main character, Fanny Price, is a young girl from a poor family, raised by her rich uncle and aunt, Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram, at Mansfield Park. She grows up with her four cousins, Tom, Edmund, Maria and Julia, but is always treated as inferior to them; only Edmund shows her real kindness. He is also the most virtuous of the siblings: Maria and Julia are vain and spoiled, while Tom is an irresponsible gambler. Over time, Fanny's gratitude for Edmund's kindness secretly grows into love.

When the children are grown, the stern patriarch Sir Thomas leaves them for two years so he can go and deal with problems on his plantation in Antigua. The siblings Henry and Mary Crawford arrive at the village, which begins a series of romantic entanglements. Mary and Edmund begin to form an attachment, though Edmund often worries that she lacks manners and disrespects his profession, that of clergyman. However, she is engaging and charming, and goes out of her way to befriend Fanny. Fanny fears that Mary has Edmund, and that love has blinded him to Mary's flaws. Henry Crawford plays with the affections of both Maria and Julia, despite the fact that Maria is already engaged to the dull, but very rich, Mr. Rushworth.

Encouraged by Tom and his friend Mr. Yates, the young people decide to put on Elizabeth Inchbald's play Lovers' Vows; Edmund and Fanny oppose the plan, believing that Sir Thomas will disapprove, but are eventually drawn into it. In particular, the play provides a pretext for Henry and Maria to flirt in public. Sir Thomas arrives unexpectedly in the middle of a rehearsal, which ends the plan. Henry leaves, and Maria is crushed; she marries Mr. Rushworth and they leave for their honeymoon, taking Julia with them. Fanny's improved looks and pleasant temper endear her to Sir Thomas, who now pays more attention to her care.

Henry returns to Mansfield Park and decides to amuse himself by making Fanny fall in love with him. However, her genuine gentleness and kindness cause him to fall in love with her instead. When he proposes marriage, Fanny's knowledge of his improper flirtations with her cousins, as well as her continuing love for Edmund, cause her to reject him. The Bertrams are dismayed, since it is an extremely advantageous match for a poor girl like Fanny. Sir Thomas rebukes her for ingratitude, and sends her back to her impoverished family so that she might realise that it is useful to have a rich husband. Henry goes to visit her there, to demonstrate that he has changed his ways and is now worthy of her affection. Fanny's attitude begins to soften.

Shortly after Henry leaves, Fanny learns of a scandal involving Henry and Maria. The two have met again in London and began an affair that, when discovered, ends in scandalous divorce and elopement. To make matters worse, the dissolute Tom has taken ill, and Julia has eloped with Mr. Yates. Fanny returns to Mansfield Park to comfort her aunt and uncle and to assist with Tom's care. Edmund thinks that Mary is not properly scandalized by these events, and that she seems a little too eager for Tom to die and Edmund to inherit the property. He breaks off relations with her, returns Fanny's affection, and marries her. Austen points out that if only Crawford had persisted in his kindly treatment of Fanny, and not pursued the affair with Maria, Fanny would eventually have come to love him. They would have had a happy marriage, as would Edmund and Mary.

[edit] Characters in "Mansfield Park"

Fanny Price
The second-eldest of nine children, who is sent to live with her mother's sisters at Mansfield Park. Her mother defied her family and married a poor lieutenant of marines for love. Mrs Price's alcoholic husband was disabled and released from the service on half pay, and she had to settle for a life far less comfortable than those of her sisters. Fanny is sensitive and shy, and her status at Mansfield Park as a dependent poor relation only intensifies these traits. The bulk of the novel takes place when she is between fifteen and eighteen.
Lady Bertram
Sister of Fanny Price's mother who is married to the wealthy Sir Thomas Bertram. She is perpetually vague and distracted. Born "Miss Maria Ward, of Huntingdon, with only seven thousand pounds [...]." (p.3)
Mrs Norris
The officious, skinflint sister of Lady Bertram who lives near Mansfield Park. Her husband, Mr. Norris, was the parson at Mansfield Park until his death.
Sir Thomas Bertram
The husband of Fanny's aunt, Lady Bertram. He owns the Mansfield Park estate and an estate in Antigua. He is stern and correct.
Tom Bertram
The elder son of Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram; he is seven years older than Fanny. Tom is principally interested in carousing in London society and enjoying the pleasures of the theatre with his friend, Mr. Yates. Tom incurs large debts, forcing Sir Thomas to sell the church position that was to have gone to Tom's younger brother, Edmund. One celebratory journey leaves Tom with a fever.
Edmund Bertram
The younger son of Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram; he is six years older than Fanny. He plans to be a clergyman. He alone among his family has any consideration for Fanny's feelings. As her protector and friend, he has a great deal of influence over her and helps to form her character. Edmund becomes attracted to Miss Crawford.
Maria Bertram
The elder daughter of Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram; she is three years older than Fanny. She becomes engaged to Mr. Rushworth, but then becomes emotionally involved with Mr. Crawford.
Julia Bertram
The younger daughter of Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram; she is two years older than Fanny. She has strong feelings toward Mr. Crawford, but soon learns that he prefers her sister Maria, despite, or because of, her sister's engagement. She then begins a flirtation with Mr. Yates.
Mr. Grant
the current parson at the Mansfield Park parsonage, he is a large man who greatly enjoys food and drink.
Mrs Grant
The wife of Mr. Grant, and half-sister to Mr. Henry Crawford and Miss Mary Crawford.
Mr. Henry Crawford
The brother of Mrs Grant and Miss Mary Crawford. A charming and eligible bachelor who shows interest in Maria, Julia and, later, Fanny.
Miss Mary Crawford
The pretty and charming sister of Mr. Crawford and Mrs Grant, who takes a keen interest in Edmund Bertram in spite of his being a second son.
Mr. Rushworth
A wealthy but foolish man who becomes engaged to Maria Bertram.
The Hon. John Yates
A good friend of Tom Bertram. Tom and Yates carouse in London society and bring their love of the theatre to Mansfield Park. Yates also expresses interest in Julia Bertram. Son of Lord Ravenshaw.
William Price
Fanny's brother, a naval midshipman, with whom she is very close.
Mr. Price
Fanny's father, an officer in the Marines who lives in Portsmouth. Mr. Price drinks too much and is foul-mouthed, and seems to have little to no affection for his eldest daughter.
Mrs. Price
Fanny's mother, sister to Mrs. Norris and Lady Bertram. She resembles the latter in her weak character and laziness, but under the pressure of a large family and a low income she has become slatternly and thoughtless. Like her husband, she seems to care little for Fanny.
Susan Price
Fanny's younger sister with whom Fanny first becomes close on a visit home.
Lady Stornoway
a society woman.

[edit] Literary significance & criticism

Mansfield Park is the most controversial and perhaps the least popular of Austen's major novels. Regency critics praised the novel's wholesome morality, but many modern readers find Fanny's timidity and disapproval of the theatricals difficult to sympathise with and reject the idea (made explicit in the final chapter) that she is a better person for the relative privations of her childhood. Jane Austen's own mother thought Fanny "insipid",[1] and many other readers have found her priggish and unlikeable.[2] Other critics point out that she is a complex personality, perceptive yet given to wishful thinking, and that she shows courage and grows in self-esteem during the latter part of the story. Austen biographer Claire Tomalin, who is generally rather critical of Fanny, argues that "it is in rejecting obedience in favour of the higher dictate of remaining true to her own conscience that Fanny rises to her moment of heroism."[3] But Tomalin reflects the ambivalence that many readers feel towards Fanny when she also writes: "More is made of Fanny Price's faith, which gives her the courage to resist what she thinks is wrong; it also makes her intolerant of sinners, whom she is ready to cast aside."

The story contains much social satire, targeted particularly at the two aunts. It is perhaps the most socially realistic Austen novel, with Fanny's family of origin, the Prices, coming from a much lower echelon of society than most Austen characters.

Edward Said implicated the novel in western culture's casual acceptance of the material benefits of slavery and imperialism, citing Austen's omission to mention that the estate of Mansfield Park was made possible only through slave labour. Other critics, such as Gabrielle White, have criticised Said's condemnation of Jane Austen and western culture, maintaining that Austen and other writers, including Samuel Johnson and Edmund Burke, opposed slavery and helped make its eventual abolition possible. Claire Tomalin, following literary critic Brian Southam, claims that Fanny, usually so timid, questions her uncle about the slave trade and receives no answer, suggesting that her vision of the trade's immorality is clearer than his.[4] However, Ellen Moody has challenged Southam's interpretation, arguing that Fanny's uncle would not have been "pleased" (as the text suggests) to be questioned on the subject if Southam's reading of the scene were correct.[5]

[edit] Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

Mansfield Park has been the subject of a number of adaptations:

  • 1999: Mansfield Park, film directed by Patricia Rozema, starring Frances O'Connor as Fanny Price and Jonny Lee Miller as Edmund Bertram (interestingly, he also featured in the 1983 version, playing one of Fanny's brothers). This film alters several major elements of the story and depicts Fanny as author of some of Austen's actual letters as well as her children's history of England.

[edit] Trivia

  • The value of the novel as literature was a subject of contention between the two main characters in Whit Stillman's film Metropolitan, one of the characters being devoted to the work of Jane Austen, the other having read only an essay critical of the book by Lionel Trilling. The film is also an updated retelling of Mansfield Park with New York City as the backdrop.
  • Cottesbrooke Hall and Village, Northamptonshire, famed for its exquisite architecture and home to the magnificent Woolavington Collection, is widely believed to be the pattern for Mansfield Park and its associated village.
  • The True Darcy Spirit (2007) a Pride and Prejudice spin-off by Elizabeth Aston places the main character "Cassandra Darcy" with the option to go live with "Mrs. Norris" of Mansfield Park after ruining her reputation.
  • Mansfield Revisited (1985) by Joan Aiken was written as a sequel to Austen's novel.

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Early opinions of Mansfield Park. Retrieved on 2006-05-16.
  2. ^ Controversy over Fanny Price, from the AUSTEN-L mailing list. Retrieved on 2006-05-16.
  3. ^ Claire Tomalin, Jane Austen: A Life (New York: Vintage, 1997), p. 230.
  4. ^ Tomalin, Jane Austen: A Life, p.230.
  5. ^ Moody, Ellen. "A Commentary on Brian Southam's exegesis in TLS". Retrieved on 2006-12-19.
  6. ^ Dooks, Brian. "Historic hall to host Austen adaptation", Yorkshire Post, 2006-08-16. Retrieved on 2006-08-16. 

[edit] External links

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Sense and Sensibility (1811) · Pride and Prejudice (1813) · Mansfield Park (1814) · Emma (1815) · Northanger Abbey (1817) · Persuasion (1817)
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