Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

 

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen.

This edition published 3rd November 2011 by Penguin Classics.

Originally published 1814.

From the cover of the book:

Taken from the poverty of her parents' home in Portsmouth, Fanny Price is brought up with her rich cousins at Mansfield Park, acutely aware of her humble rank and with her cousin Edmund as her sole ally.

During her uncle's absence in Antigua, the Crawford's arrive in the neighbourhood bringing with them the glamour of London life and a reckless taste for flirtation.

Mansfield Park is considered Jane Austen's first mature work and, with its quiet heroine and subtle examination of social position and moral integrity, one of her most profound.

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Mansfield Park was Jane Austen's third published novel, and although it was well received by readers in 1814, it is very different from Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice which came before it.

The story follows timid Fanny Price, who is taken from the chaotic, poverty stricken home of her parents in Portsmouth to be brought up with her rich Bertram cousins at the splendid Mansfield Park. From the start, her humble origins and the difference in the respective rank between her and her handsome cousins - Tom, Edmund, Maria and Julia - is made abundantly clear, particular by her meddling Aunt Norris, who likes nothing better that to interfere in the household affairs of stern Lord, and vapid Lady, Bertram. Fanny's only friend amongst them is kindly Edmund, destined to be a clergyman, who it is no surprise she develops more than cousinly feelings for over the course of the novel. 

There are bags of emotional twists and turns, largely as the result of the arrival of siblings Henry and Mary Crawford in the neighbourhood, provoking jealousies, flirtations, relationship ructions, and significant family drama before the happy ending rolls around and Fanny's finer qualities are appreciated.

Unlike most of her novels, with their enchanting love stories, engaging heroines and swoon-worthy heroes, Mansfield Park really does not measure up in the romance stakes for me. Fanny takes a long time to warm up beyond a general state of insipidity, which is a product of Austen's tendency to make her conversations so stilting for much of the novel, and even though her principles are sound (perhaps a bit over the top at times) I have never found her especially captivating. There is little to be admired in her yearning after Edmund while his eyes are directed elsewhere in a deluded way towards worldly Mary Crawford either, and the conclusion to their love story is so rushed. It is no surprise that almost every adaptation of this book tweaks Fanny's character to make her much more lively.

However, this is Austen's first novel that hints at much deeper shades of grey in her writing, going beyond a witty dissection of Regency absurdity to examine some fascinating themes - particularly when it comes to manners and morality. Fanny, with her priggish ways, stands as a lovely contrast to the outwardly correct, but inwardly selfish and unscrupulous ways of so many of the characters in this story, from within the Bertram household, among the Crawford siblings, and even in Fanny's own birth family. Oodles of social history, Austen's sharp observations on Regency society, and salacious scandal make this very enjoyable - and Mrs Norris is one of the most unlikeable characters amongst those from all of Austen's books!

It is easy to see why this is arguably Austen's most controversial book too, eliciting much intellectual debate about her intentions when it comes to both characters and story, especially in its references to the slave trade. There is a lot to reflect on...

This is not one of my favourite Austen's (even given the remarkable voice talents of the fabulous Juliet Stevenson, who was my companion for this revisit via audio book), but it is still a classic masterpiece, as all her books are. There is so much to admire, which really does make it a prospect worth your time, even if the romance is a bit lack lustre.

Onwards to something a little more to my romantic suspense tastes next, on my reread journey through the work of the wonderful Jane Austen for her 250th anniversary, I think... perhaps a little Sense and Sensibility is in order!

Mansfield Park is available now in multiple formats.

About the author:

Jane Austen, the daughter of a clergyman, was born in Hampshire in 1775, and later lived in Bath and the village of Chawton. As a child and teenager, she wrote brilliantly witty stories for her family's amusement, as well as a novella, Lady Susan.

Her first published novel was Sense and Sensibility, which appeared in 1811 and was soon followed by Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park and Emma.

Austen died in 1817, and Persuasion and Northanger Abbey were published posthumously in 1818.