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Title: Mansfield Park: Authoritative Text, Contexts, Criticism (Norton Critical Edition) by Jane Austen, Claudia L. Johnson ISBN: 0-393-96791-3 Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: 01 January, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $11.40 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.96 (79 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Amazing characters
Comment: If anyone reads this novel and forgets who Mrs. Norris and Mr. Rushworth are--I am amazed. Jane Austen is a nearly perfect story-teller. Always there are unexpected twists in lovers and even in marriage. Mansfield Park takes it's place by Emma as my favorite Ms. Austen novel. Mansfield Park takes you through the morals of classes, and lets you heighten yourself right along with Fanny Price. No matter what Aunt Norris has to say. Mr. Rushworth was my favorite character among them all, he doesn't make many appearances--when he does they were all rather humorous to me. A highly recommended read for a cozy night.
Rating: 4
Summary: Austen's most controversial novel.
Comment: In this somewhat atypical Jane Austen novel, Austen abandons her precise characterization and carefully constructed plots, usually designed to illustrate specific ethical and social dilemmas, and presents a much broader, more complex picture of early nineteenth century life. Though the polite behavior of the middle and upper classes is always a focus of Austen, and this novel is no exception, she is more analytical of society as a whole here, casting a critical eye on moral issues which allow the upper class to perpetuate itself. Fanny Price, the main character, is the daughter of a genteel woman who married for love but soon found herself in poverty. When Fanny's aunt and uncle, the wealthy owners of Mansfield Park, invite Fanny alone, of all the children, to live with them, Fanny enters a new world, where she is educated, clothed, and housed, but always regarded as an "outsider."
Through Fanny's two cousins, Maria and Julia, Austen shows the complex interactions of the upper class as they negotiate marriages, try to maintain the family's reputation and wealth, and react to those "beneath" them socially. Fanny, having experienced both poverty and plenty, comments on what she sees, and though she lacks the witty charm of some of Austen's other characters (such as Elizabeth Bennett), she shows an intelligence and conscience lacking among her cousins. Only Edmund, the youngest of the Bertram sons, pays genuine attention to her, and her love for him is real, though secret.
This is a darker novel than Austen's others, showing conflicts between late eighteenth century rationalism and the growing romanticism of the nineteenth century. Sir Thomas maintains his wealth through his expedient participation in the slave trade, a business that his sons Thomas and Edmund abhor. Often unfeeling toward his own family, Sir Thomas also shows cruelty toward Fanny when she rejects a marriage he has negotiated for her to a man she does not love. Cousin Maria chooses to marry Rushworth for his fortune, but she succumbs to her passion for someone else, and introduces a romantic, new sexuality into the novel. Unfortunately, Fanny, though sweet and reasonable, is also quiet and predictable, while Edmund, the only other potentially empathetic character, is naïve and often appears to be weak. Austen's light touch and quiet humor, which make her other novels vibrate with life and come to a satisfying ending, are less obvious here, and the abrupt conclusion leaves many questions unanswered. Mary Whipple
Rating: 5
Summary: Better In Comparison
Comment: As soon as I finished reading Mansfield Park, I quickly had to see the movie, hoping that it would be as great as other Jane Austen movie adaptations. I was wrong! None of it compares to this wonderful book.
I agree that Fanny Price is not as dynamic or bubbly or as engaging as other Austen heroines, but I do not think her weak or uninteresting. Why should all Austen heroines be the same? She has a quiet inner strenth and sensibility that plays off well to her vain aquaintances. All of her years at Mansfield Park only one person, Edmund, valued her for her true personality and qualities. Day after day she was made to feel inferior, unworthy and ungrateful by her relations, yet she was none of these things. I loved when other characters started to appreciate Fanny's good qualities and give her the praise she was due.
The other character developments in this novel are wonderful, and I especially like the parts where Henry Crawford is changing and professing his love to Fanny. Although he is vain and has his faults, I agree with Edmund that it improves Crawford's character by the mere fact that he fell in love with Fanny of all people. I partly wished that Crawford would fall more into Fanny's good opinion and I regret his ruin in the end.
If you are a fan of this book, do not watch the movie adaptation! Of course there is not enough time for all the great details in the book and it is terrible and completely distorts the story of Mansfield Park . Fanny is a completely different person in the movie, and it has made me appreciate the real Fanny in the novel even more. Don't bother with it because if you are a fan of the book the movie will make you angry with the liberties it took.
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Title: Persuasion by Jane Austen, Margaret Drabble ISBN: 0451526384 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: August, 1996 List Price(USD): $4.95 |
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Title: Northanger Abbey by Robert Kiely, Jane Austen ISBN: 0375759174 Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 08 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
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Title: Emma by JANE AUSTEN ISBN: 0553212737 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 January, 1984 List Price(USD): $4.95 |
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Title: Sense and Sensibility (Oxford World's Classics) by Jane Austen, James Kinsley ISBN: 0192833588 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: April, 1998 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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Title: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen ISBN: 0553213105 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 December, 1983 List Price(USD): $4.95 |
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