Mansfield Park

published	April 29th 2003 by Penguin Classics
first published	1814
binding	Paperback
isbn	0141439807 (isbn13: 9780141439808)
pages	480
characters	Protagonist, Fanny Price; supporting cast: members of the Bertram family--Tom, Edmund, Maria, Julia, Sir Thomas and his wife Maria; brother and sister, Henry and Mary Crawford; Aunt Norris
description	Begun in 1811 at the height of Jane Austen's writing powers and published in 1814, Mansfield Park marks a conscious break from the tone of her first t...more [close] Begun in 1811 at the height of Jane Austen's writing powers and published in 1814, Mansfield Park marks a conscious break from the tone of her first three novels, Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility, and Pride and Prejudice, the last of which Austen came to see as "rather too light." Fanny Price is unlike any of Austen's previous heroines, a girl from a poor family brought up in a splendid country house and possessed of a vast reserve of moral fortitude and imperturbability. She is very different from Elizabeth Bennet, but is the product of the same inspired imagination. New chronology and further reading; Tony Tanner's original introduction reinstated Edited with an introduction by Kathryn Sutherland. [close]
date added	01-31-07 edit book

find at: Amazon | Half.com | Barnes & Noble | Abebooks | more...

discuss this book

topics	replies	last activity
MP in Jane's Canon?	4	04/03/2008 09:07PM

new topic

groups with this book

friend reviews (0)

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

lists with this book

Favorite Books

30 books | 3 voters

More...

other reviews (showing 1-20 of 11856)

Rebecca rated it:

01/17/08

bookshelves: biting-wit, classics, oh-so-british

Read in January, 2008

recommends it for: Brit lit lovers

I don't think this book would have been so disappointing if I hadn't just seen the movie adaptation of it (specifically, the 1999 version). I saw the movie first, and liked the plot so much that I started the book. I enjoyed reading P & P and S & S, so I assumed I would enjoy Mansfield Park also. I quickly found out that the movie was much more entertaining -- but more importantly than that, its social/political message was more palatable to me than the book's.
...more I don't think this book would have been so disappointing if I hadn't just seen the movie adaptation of it (specifically, the 1999 version). I saw the movie first, and liked the plot so much that I started the book. I enjoyed reading P & P and S & S, so I assumed I would enjoy Mansfield Park also. I quickly found out that the movie was much more entertaining -- but more importantly than that, its social/political message was more palatable to me than the book's.

In the movie, the protagonist, Fanny Price, is a spirited, independent-minded, witty, and fiercely smart girl of 18 or so who loves reading and has a secret crush on her cousin Edmund. Everyone around her is vain, selfish, and superficial, but she remains a voice of reason and kindness throughout. In the end, of course, she gets Edmund and lives happily ever after.

In the book, Fanny does still get the man and sees her foolish relatives get their just desserts, but her personality is so different from the Fanny of the movie that I felt a bit cheated and deprived. It quickly became apparent that the movie had taken radical liberties with Fanny's character -- but they were liberties that I felt improved the story and maybe they were necessary for a '90s audience. At least, they felt necessary to me.

The Fanny of the book is subservient, repressed, and suffers from "nerves," to the point that I could not respect or like her. Her "virtue" (so Austen calls it) is in putting everyone's needs and desires (as stupid as they may be) ahead of her own welfare and happiness. Austen obviously came from a time when women were idealized as being domestic angels that were meant to serve and be silent, but I had had higher hopes for Austen's subversive potential. Not only was Fanny unrealistically pure and virtuous, she let others walk all over her, even when speaking her mind would have been justified. The narrator also repeatedly described Fanny's frailty, mentioning several times that strolling leisurely for more than an hour was enough to make Fanny exhausted and completely dependent on the nearest male, lest she collapse in the garden. In addition, Fanny's intellect and interest in reading is downplayed, and her time appears to be spent sewing, talking, and taking exhausting strolls in gardens. In other words, she has a completely bland and prudish personality that only distinguishes itself in contrast to her reprehensible relatives.

Overall, Austen's message seems to be: "If you neglect your own health and happiness for long enough, in the name of serving and submitting to those who consider themselves your superiors, you will eventually be rewarded by a decent income and a handsome husband."

One other change made in the movie, in addition to Fanny's character, is the nature of slavery. In the book, very slight mention is made of the fact that Fanny's uncle and guardian owns slaves in Antigua (in fact, Austen never uses the word "slave," you just have to infer). No mention beyond this is made of the issue. In the movie, however, Fanny comes across some of her uncle's notes about the plantation and is morally outraged, and in the end, her uncle (partially because of her influence), decides to give up his plantation. This was totally absent from the book, and is yet another example of Austen's claustrophobic and circumscribed focus on domestic and trivial issues to the exclusion of significant historical factors that should influence her character's lives, but don't.

I must admit that this book has lowered my regard for Jane Austen, but that aside, it has several funny and touching moments, and has some of the best insights into human stupidity that I've ever read, making it well worth a read by anyone. ...less

Like this review? yes (4 people liked it)

add a comment

Stacy added it

03/21/08

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Following are my immediate sentiments after reading Mansfield Park by Jane Austin which are additionally affected by some of her other books (i.e. Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion).

I find myself romantically thinking upon heightened ideals. I wish for myself to be established with a fine mind and sharp wit, solid integrity, social discretion and discretion of every kind, self consciousness and the ability to feel perfectly wretched for selfish thoughts. I wish to possess rational temperame...more Following are my immediate sentiments after reading Mansfield Park by Jane Austin which are additionally affected by some of her other books (i.e. Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion).

I find myself romantically thinking upon heightened ideals. I wish for myself to be established with a fine mind and sharp wit, solid integrity, social discretion and discretion of every kind, self consciousness and the ability to feel perfectly wretched for selfish thoughts. I wish to possess rational temperament and a gentle nature as does Fanny Price. I cannot be as unselfish as she for I haven't restrained my thoughts as to imagining myself to possess those physical traits which are by nature as lovely as the inner person where Jane Austin's Heroins are concerned!

Why would a reader envy poor Fanny Price? This girl of undesirable connections, anxious and tender hearted and without great physical strength found herself with a life of
leisure, privileged education and upbringing. Yet she had the luxury of accepting it daily with little trouble as she was fortunately granted a lesser station among her adoptive
family and within their home. A stately Uncle and mindless Aunt had four privileged children three of whom were readily aware of their own importance and happy to make Fanny aware of it as well. A perfect contrivance of the author to allow for Fanny to be so unassuming and yet so comfortable. The blushing beauty was well provided for but was not 'spoilt' in that she never thought herself equal to deserving it. Envy is justifiable where these circumstances prevail!

Her fine mind was added to by her upright cousin Edmond who was downright handsome! Though he fondly adored Fanny as a sister...the two hearts were inevitably to live happily
ever after as husband and wife; as the reader strongly suspects throughout the novel.
The difficulties essential to romance arise with Edmond's early and strong affections for the lively and lovely Mary Crawford who had good connections and a handsome brother of
large fortune. Henry Crawford was given to flirtation and was naturally held in low esteem by the proprietous Fanny. The only thing that stopped either nearest to the readers heart from marrying a Crawford was the acknowledgment of the necessity for steady good character. Such
acknowledgment was n'ere a question for the wise Fanny Price, but Edmond had to find the answer at the cost of love disappointed. It was a happy thing for him to be
loved all the while by his own dear Fanny and a lesson learned was softened by such a realization.

Fanny did not want London and it's fineries or admirers or even superficial friends, rather her heart longed to be loved and needed by the family that she hoped to please and
show her gratitude to. She was only modestly if ever assured of it's being so and therefore always held it as a thing to be had. Little did she know that the events of a temporary removal from Mansfield Park would reveal how much her Uncle's family with it's orderly ways and less than tender environment did mean to her. She was able to answer such long held expectations with a tumultuous 3 month visit to her home
of early childhood. Her Father and Mother of lesser circumstances and with other children to dote on only acknowledged her as a visitor but offered not the deep relationship she longed for. It was during this visit that shocking events took place in the lives of her cousins causing great hardship for her esteemed Uncle Bertram and Lady Bertram. The hardship was especially felt for her dearest friend in the world, Edmond. It was through these events that her absence from Mansfield magnified her importance as part of her Uncle's family. She was out of place in her own parent's home so much that such a
visit helped her to realize that home was forever Mansfield Park.

It was most gratifyingly made so when Edmond and Fanny could take a home in the country where they had grown up together. As said by this most enjoyed author, "Little did Sir Thomas know that he had raised a wife for his son". ...less

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Kanchan rated it:

08/22/07

Read in March, 1996

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",and many other readers have found her priggish ...more 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",and many other readers have found her priggish and unlikeable.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.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, just as Mr. Collins recommends that the Bennets should cast aside the sinful Lydia and Wickham.

The story contains much social satire, particularly at the expense of 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 that the estate of Mansfield Park was made possible only through slave labor. Other critics, such as Gabrielle White, have argued against 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.However, author 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.

...less

Like this review? yes (6 people liked it)

2 comments

Amber rated it:

05/23/08

Read in May, 2008

The first part of this book is a little slow but as you come to the end of the book all of this background information makes the story and characters much more complete in my opinion, and therefore worth the effort. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was sad to see that so many did not because they were expecting Fanny to be like Elizabeth, or Emma, from Austen's other novels. I, as many, did not first love Fanny but as I came to understand her more I really came to admire her strengths and want...more The first part of this book is a little slow but as you come to the end of the book all of this background information makes the story and characters much more complete in my opinion, and therefore worth the effort. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was sad to see that so many did not because they were expecting Fanny to be like Elizabeth, or Emma, from Austen's other novels. I, as many, did not first love Fanny but as I came to understand her more I really came to admire her strengths and want to be more like her in many ways. I also don't find her character weak. She stands up for what she believes in and is not so easily swayed as many of the other characters in the book are. She is soft-spoken but I think this just adds to her strength and self control. I would have liked to see her a little more self-confident, but I find her character more believable as it is. I also think that she does become much more confident by the end of the book and I am glad that she doesn't turn out to go to the other extreme of being very vain and self-centered.
I also enjoyed that this book wasn't just a romance novel. I think romance is great but I think it is even better when it is coupled with a true and constant love - especially when the book ends in marriage.
I haven't really seen many other comments about this but I personally think that this book also carries a moral about being an active parent and practicing what you preach. Maria and Julia are given every advantage, education, status, etc. but they don't truly learn virtue from their parents and this effects what they end up doing with their education and status. Fanny on the other hand was humble when she came to Mansfield Park and really did seem to learn virtue from Edmund (and perhaps she already had a lot of virtue, but we do not know really what she was like before.) Also at the end of the book her uncle takes a much more active role as her guardian. It really inspired me to teach my children to be well mannered and educated, but first and foremost to teach and be an example of morals and virtue.
...less

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

add a comment

Leah rated it:

05/30/08

bookshelves: fiction

Read in May, 2008

Am having a bit of a hard time getting into this one, mainly because Mrs. Norris really gets on my last nerve. Am hoping Fanny works up the nerve to slap her one of these days.

Ok, I'm almost finished with what feels like a marathon Jane Austen read. There are several things that drive me crazy about this story. First of all, this is written during an anti-feminist time when women had no rights and no privilege aside from that which came from their upbringing and their marriages. Many of ...more Am having a bit of a hard time getting into this one, mainly because Mrs. Norris really gets on my last nerve. Am hoping Fanny works up the nerve to slap her one of these days.

Ok, I'm almost finished with what feels like a marathon Jane Austen read. There are several things that drive me crazy about this story. First of all, this is written during an anti-feminist time when women had no rights and no privilege aside from that which came from their upbringing and their marriages. Many of the sentiments expressed by Fanny's uncle, Henry Crawford, and even at times Edmund, make me what to drive my fist through a wall.

Secondly, the only three characters in the book whose reputations aren't sullied by deviant character are Fanny, William and Edmund. Everyone else is pretty much a jerk. Mrs. Norris - selfish bitch. Lady Bertram - stupid selfish bitch. Mary Crawford - conniving little temptress. Henry Crawford - male version of conniving temptress. Sir Thomas - seems nice until Henry proposes, then turns into brow-beating woman-hater. Julia and Maria - enough can't be said about how disgusting these two are. Mr. Rushworth - idiot.

Honestly, one tires of reading about the lives of these petty people, and I wish Edmund would just get on with realizing that Mary is evil and Fanny is his one, true love.

More to follow....

Ok, honestly, I was frustrated by this book and must say that it is the least favorite of Jane's works. There are insane amounts of detail (unecessary detail). I kept waiting for when the two main characters were going to hook up, and three pages from the end of the book, there is a short paragraph that says Edmund came to his senses and fell in love with Fanny. WHAT?!!! Are you kidding me?! THAT'S IT????? OMG, I was so mad. The reader gets the feeling that Jane got bored and simply wanted to wrap up the darned story because she was as sick of the Crawfords as everyone else. Honestly, Jane, couldn't we have gotten a little more detail on how Edmund and Fanny got together????...less

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Yennie rated it:

01/14/08

Read in January, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

This one's a little more drawn out than I'd like (and incongruously abrupt at the end), but it's sweet. Many people are highly critical of Fanny Price because she's so timid (and she lets things happen to her rather than set about making a life for herself), but my heart went out to her quite a bit. True, we may prefer to read about Lizzy Bennets and Jane Eyres-- strong-willed women with wit and independence-- but aren't there a great number of Fanny Prices in the world whose stories need to be ...more

Like this review? yes (4 people liked it)

add a comment

Megan rated it:

06/02/08

Read in March, 2008

Out of all the Jane Austen Novels, I would have to say that Mansfield Park is my least favorite. The reason for this is that the main character and heroine, Fanny, is not the outspoken, smart, and witty heroine that characterizes all of Austen’s other novels and that makes Austen one of my all-time favorite authors. The story is about a poor girl in England who goes to live with her rich aunt and uncle, the Bertrams, because her parents can’t afford to keep her anymore. They want Fanny to ha...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Lillafiore rated it:

03/24/08

bookshelves: classics

I finished Mansfield Park today, and I really wish I could reclaim those hours of my life spent reading this book.

As Jane Austen’s third book, I had higher expectations for it. Written in 1814, I’m sure there are many aspects of English countryside lifestyles that I am unfamiliar with, and hence, couldn’t connect with any of the characters. Mary Crawford was the most colorful and delightful character in the book, but I don’t think Jane Austen meant for her to be the most approachable...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Greyeyedminerva rated it:

08/12/07

Read in August, 2007

I was astounded to find that many of the reviews on this site criticize this book for the main character, Fanny Price, & her timidity and morality. It is very different from Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, whose smart, sensible heroines make the novels, but I actually enjoyed this book immensely for its social commentary.

Most of the characters in this book singlemindedly pursue wealth, status, and pleasure regardless of their personal and moral costs. The...more

Like this review? yes (5 people liked it)

add a comment

Jessica rated it:

06/18/08

This has become one of my favorite Jane Austen books. I could not get through it as a teenager, but now that I am older, I like it and find myself re-reading it often.
The heroine, Fanny Price, is unusual for Austen; unlike the confident, clever heroines like Elizabeth, Emma, and the Dashwood sisters, Fanny has no real talents, except that she is kind, a good listener, helpful, and tries to do the right thing. This is sometimes a nice change, though occasionally as a modern women I sometimes ...more

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

add a comment

Holly rated it:

10/10/07

bookshelves: classics, female-writers

Read in August, 2007

recommends it for: Austen fans, regency fans

I'm really not surprised that not a lot of people like Fanny Price. She's timid, moralistic and extremely passive. But really, what were people expecting her to do, exactly? Tell her cousin she loves him? B-slap Miss Crawford? Fanny is low in society, brought up to be grateful to everyone, and has no independence (dowry, etc,.). A lot of women were like that in those days. Many shy people also have a higher regard for authority than others, because of authority's 'better' judgement, and that is ...more

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

2 comments

Lyn rated it:

04/22/08

Read in April, 2008

A review by a lady (or, die Fanny die!):
Young ladies (and gentlemen), before you read this book, realize that it's the longest and among Ms. Austen's most brilliant for the clockwork precision of the plot, but that it has the most insipid characters you will ever perhaps encounter.

*spoilers may be found below*

People have lamented the moralistic tone and Jane's seeming vindication of the pristine and zzzz-inducing Fanny and Edmund. A radical reading: As Thackeray's Vanity Fair is &quo...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Holly rated it:

07/25/08

bookshelves: literature

Read in July, 2008

recommended to Holly by: hollygoguen@gmail.com

I have seen no small amount of reviews toting Fanny Price as Austen's least likable heroine, and to be honest...I'm not sure where they get that impression from. Granted, Fanny's characteristics often shine by what they are not, next to the undesirable character traits of those around her.....but does this appropriateness of demeanor, attention to honor and morals, and respect toward elders (especially the ones least deserving of it) truely mean she is not fit for her lead status? I think not. A...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Chris and Yuri rated it:

07/24/08

Read in June, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Oceana9 rated it:

02/22/08

Read in February, 2008

recommends it for: Anyone who can stand nineteenth-century British novelists.

Fanny Price. Yes, the protagonist's name is really Fanny Price. This book is uber-Austen, so expect all the Austenish things: a saintly heroine, clever talkin', love triangles and love squares. Much walking amongst the shrubbery. Letter-writin'. Good brother vs. bad brother. (Both are hot.) Evil rich sisters (both are hot.) Poor, destitute cousin taken in by "charitable" impulses (Fanny is not hot, but then, of course, gets hotter and hotter as people begin to notice her. She is hottes...more

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

2 comments

Abigail rated it:

06/05/08

bookshelves: literature-classics

Read in February, 1996

recommends it for: Jane Austen Fans / 19th-Century Novel Readers

I know that I am not alone in considering Mansfield Park Jane Austen's weakest novel, and Fanny Price her least likable heroine. This tale of a young girl who is the "poor relation" among wealthy people, always seems longer than it needs to be, with entire sections that just drag along. I recall frequently thinking that the novel would have benefited from a quicker pace.

As for the heroine, I have heard it said that Fanny's moralizing is obnoxious to the reader because it is ...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Yolanda rated it:

(review of isbn 1593081545)

05/24/08

bookshelves: 2008

Read in May, 2008

recommends it for: those who want their ideas of an enlightened and loving marriage as the very best kind

I'm listening to the Librivox version of this book, although I do own this edition. So far it's not my favorite Austen but has grown on me. Fanny is rather insufferably good, but that was something I've read in reviews so I cannot admit to that being an entirely original thought. Moral: don't read criticism prior to the original text if you don't want nasty critiques floating around at the back of your head. I'm about 2/3 through so full critique soon.

5/24/08 Esta fin and, of course, Austen ...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Elizabeth rated it:

11/19/07

bookshelves: 2007, austen-and-friends, classics-women, earlier, favorite-writers, in-england, nineteenth-century, reading-group

Read in December, 2007

Every time I read Mansfield Park it gets better; the characters are more complex, the possibilities more delicious. I had to admit that I didn't fully appreciate the book when I first read it (albeit in high school) but every time I re-read it, I am more impressed by it.

I'm not sure how to write about this book without giving away the ending or making it seem more simplistic than it really is. Fanny, our heroine, is a shy, neglected child who is disregarded by her adopted family and l...more

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

1 comments

Kelly rated it:

06/04/07

bookshelves: brit-lit, fiction

Read in April, 2001

recommends it for: only hardcore Austen fans

Dear Jane,

Please accept my profound apologies for what I am about to write. I would be most grateful if you would be inattentive to the following review. Please believe in my most profound respect and adoration for you.

Yours & etc,

Kelly

This book is god awful. Do not read it. The writing is fine. This is no fault to any technical flaw. But the heroine is absolutely awful. I have no sympathy for her and her life, and no interest in it either. She is boring, moralizing, and has ...more