Your online source for Jane Austen and her legacy
From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress:
English novelist Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775, in Steventon, Hampshire, the seventh of eight children of Rev. George Austen and his wife Cassandra Austen, nee Leigh. Her six major novels concern the pursuit of security, and love, for women dependent upon marriage among the landed gentry in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century England. Continue reading “10 Facts You May Not Know About Jane Austen and Her Novels”
From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress:
In honor of lovers everywhere we are highlighting some of Jane Austen’s insights on courtship, love, and marriage in her novels, and in her life, on the most romantic day of the year, Valentine’s Day.
Here are 24 of the best quotes to include in a card, express directly to your friends, family, or inamorata, or just revel in today. Continue reading “24 of the Best Jane Austen Quotes on Courtship, Love, and Marriage to Share with Your Valentine”
Jane Austen-themed Twelfth Night Cake by Sprinkles Bakes
Today is Jane Austen 239th birthday. Born on 16 December 1775 at Steventon Rectory in Hampshire, England, her many admirers have proclaimed her birthday as Jane Austen Day and are celebrating around the world in creative and diverse ways. Continue reading “Celebrating Jane Austen Day 2014 with 75 Sensational Quotes That Every Janeite Should Not Live Without”
From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress:
Happy dance in the Jane Austen book world today. With the release of Coralie Bickford-Smith’s new cover design of Love and Freindship and Other Youthful Writings, the Penguin Clothbound Classics set of Jane Austen novels now includes seven books: Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Persuasion, and Northanger Abbey.
Few novelists have conveyed the subtleties and nuances of their own social milieu with the wit and insight of Jane Austen. Through her vivacious and spirited heroines and their circle, she painted vivid portraits of Continue reading “Penguin Clothbound Classics: Jane Austen: The Complete Works, 7-Book Boxed Set, Designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith”
Jane Austen’s novel Mansfield Park really gets a bum rap from critics and readers. Sometimes I think that I am its only advocate, campaigning to an empty room. Granted, it is not as emotionally charged as Sense and Sensibility or as light, bright and sparkly as Pride and Prejudice, but it does have an admirable heroine in gentle Fanny Price and two viper-like antagonists in Mary and Henry Crawford, that other authors just dream about creating.
I find the arguments against it are thin. Some say MP is overly moralistic, dismally dark, and the hero and heroine are wimps. (So harsh) I say they are not reading the same novel that I am. All this remonstrance was prompted by a conversation I had today with a customer at work. As a bookseller, I recommend books all day long. Today, when I offered Mansfield Park to a young lady who loved P&P and S&S, her mom flatly said no, pronouncing that she would not like it. Inwardly, I cringed at such parental reproach. Give the kid a chance to make up her own mind. So Mansfield Park was eliminated because mom didn’t like it when she read it thirty years ago. Geesh.
So for all those parents out there that think they are doing your kids a favor, let them make there own decisions and mistakes with the classics. Just be HAPPY they want to read them.
On a more upbeat note, here are a few of my favorite quotes from Mansfield Park to remind skeptics that there are some grand one liners.
“But there certainly are not so many men of large fortune in the world as there are pretty women to deserve them.” The Narrator, Chapter 1
“Do not let us be frightened from a good deed by a trifle.” Mrs. Norris, Chapter 1
“Nothing ever fatigues me but doing what I do not like.” Mary Crawford, Chapter 7
“Selfishness must always be forgiven, you know, because there is no hope of a cure.” Mary Crawford, Chapter 7
“Everybody likes to go their own way–to choose their own time and manner of devotion.” Mary Crawford, Chapter 9
“Oh! Do not attack me with your watch. A watch is always too fast or too slow. I cannot be dictated to by a watch.” Mary Crawford, Chapter 9
“To sit in the shade on a fine day, and look upon verdure, is the most perfect refreshment.” Fanny Price, Chapter 9
It was a quick succession of busy nothings. The Narrator, Chapter 10
“Where an opinion is general, it is usually correct.” Mary Crawford, Chapter 11
“Those who have not more must be satisfied with what they have.” Mrs. Rushworth, Chapter 12
“Let your conduct be the only harangue.” Edmund Bertram, Chapter 15
“Oh! you can do nothing but what you do already: be plagued very often, and never lose your temper.” Mary Crawford, Chapter 22
“A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of.” Mary Crawford, Chapter 22
“A woman can never be too fine while she is all in white.” Edmund Bertram, Chapter 23
The enthusiasm of a woman’s love is even beyond the biographer’s. The Narrator, Chapter 27
“I am worn out with civility,” said he. “I have been talking incessantly all night, and with nothing to say.” Edmund Bertram, Chapter 28
“We have all a better guide in ourselves, if we would attend to it, than any other person can be.” Fanny Price, Chapter 42
“Nobody minds having what is too good for them.” The Narrator, Chapter 48
Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery. I quit such odious subjects as soon as I can. Narrator, Chapter 48
So there!
The harp arrived, and rather added to her beauty, wit, and good-humour; for she played with the greatest obligingness, with an expression and taste which were peculiarly becoming, and there was something clever to be said at the close of every air. Edmund was at the Parsonage every day, to be indulged with his favourite instrument: one morning secured an invitation for the next; for the lady could not be unwilling to have a listener, and every thing was soon in a fair train.
A young woman, pretty, lively, with a harp as elegant as herself, and both placed near a window, cut down to the ground, and opening on a little lawn, surrounded by shrubs in the rich foliage of summer, was enough to catch any man’s heart. The season, the scene, the air, were all favourable to tenderness and sentiment. Mrs. Grant and her tambour frame were not without their use: it was all in harmony; and as everything will turn to account when love is once set going, even the sandwich tray, and Dr. Grant doing the honours of it, were worth looking at. Without studying the business, however, or knowing what he was about, Edmund was beginning, at the end of a week of such intercourse, to be a good deal in love. The Narrator, Mansfield Park, Chapter 7
We hear Mary Crawford lament over her wayward harp on rout from London for several pages. It has finally arrived in Northampton, but stalled there for ten days with no cart available to hire for transport during the harvest. This London girl can not comprehend the inconvenient pace of the country. Her haranguing should have been a foreshadowing to Edmund Bertram of her selfish disposition. Instead, he encouragingly tells her that it is his “favourite instrument,” and hopes to be soon allowed to hear her. One wonders at his sincerity since we know from Fanny’s ignorance of ever hearing one before that no harp exists at Mansfield Park. When Mary does finally play for him, it is like a siren song, and within a week, he was good deal in love!
Wow! What an easy conquest. I’m not sure if this is a complement to her playing, or her skill at the alluring arts. Either way, it is no compliment to his superior judgment. It will take a better woman to straighten out his head so he can discern appearances from reality. Sadly, some men never learn this one! ;-)
When her two dances with him were over, her inclination and strength for more were pretty well at an end; and Sir Thomas, having seen her walk rather than dance down the shortening set, breathless, and with her hand at her side, gave his orders for her sitting down entirely. From that time Mr. Crawford sat down likewise.
“Poor Fanny!” cried William, coming for a moment to visit her, and working away his partner’s fan as if for life, “how soon she is knocked up! Why, the sport is but just begun. I hope we shall keep it up these two hours. How can you be tired so soon?”
“So soon! my good friend,” said Sir Thomas, producing his watch with all necessary caution; “it is three o’clock, and your sister is not used to these sort of hours.”
“Well, then, Fanny, you shall not get up to-morrow before I go. Sleep as long as you can, and never mind me.”
“Oh! William.”
“What! Did she think of being up before you set off?”
“Oh! yes, sir,” cried Fanny, rising eagerly from her seat to be nearer her uncle; “I must get up and breakfast with him. It will be the last time, you know; the last morning.”
“You had better not. He is to have breakfasted and be gone by half-past nine. Mr. Crawford, I think you call for him at half-past nine?”
Fanny was too urgent, however, and had too many tears in her eyes for denial; and it ended in a gracious “Well, well!” which was permission.
“Yes, half-past nine,” said Crawford to William as the latter was leaving them, “and I shall be punctual, for there will be no kind sister to get up for me.” And in a lower tone to Fanny, “I shall have only a desolate house to hurry from. Your brother will find my ideas of time and his own very different to-morrow.”
William Price, Fanny Price, Sir Thomas Bertram & Henry Crawford, Mansfield Park, Chapter 28
Of all of Jane Austen heroine’s Fanny Price is more sharply criticized for her character flaws than any other. Lizzy Bennet may be quick to judge, Emma Woodhouse think too highly of herself or Marianne Dashwood over romanticize, but Fanny’s timidity and insecurity garner more objections than any other failing. Why? I have a pet theory that involves her lack of confidence. It causes people around her and the reader to disconnect and dismiss her. Weak Fanny; — we must pity and mollycoddle her. In the quote above, her brother William exclaims “Poor Fanny” when he sees her “knocked up” (tired) after dancing at the ball. She says nothing in her own defense allowing Sir Thomas to speak for her. Now, Lizzy Bennet or Emma Woodhouse would never permit anyone else to answer for them without having the last word. Instead, Fanny is silent and forced to tears of frustration and pain before Sir Thomas will consent to her wishes. This view of Fanny always acquiescing to others runs throughout the novel. As readers it is difficult to see a heroine bantered about and not defend herself. Why Austen chose this type of retreating personality in opposition her pervious strong heroines was long been debated. In the end, Austen redeems our ill opinion of her weaknesses when Fanny turns out to be the strongest character in the novel. A nice twist that some seem to overlook, wanting instead to remember that it took over 473 pages of rankling our ire to get there.
Vanity was the beginning and the end of Sir Walter Elliot’s character; vanity of person and of situation. He had been remarkably handsome in his youth; and, at fifty-four, was still a very fine man. Few women could think more of their personal appearance than he did; nor could the valet of any new made lord be more delighted with the place he held in society. The Narrator on Sir Walter Elliot, Persuasion, Chapter 1
As a clergyman’s daughter Jane Austen would have been well aware of the significance of the seven deadly sins, those cardinal vices identified by the Catholic church in the 6th- century and later adopted by other Christian religions as the most offensive and serious of sins against god and humanity. Listed as luxuria (extravagance, later lust), gula (gluttony), avaritia (greed), acedia (sloth), ira (wrath), invidia (envy), and superbia (pride), they were all egregious offenses that would qualify the sinner to at least one foot in hell unless they confessed and were penitent. This collection, though not identified in the Bible, was in the eyes of the church the foundation of moral corruption and considered mortal sins, a most serious offense threatening eternal damnation. Pretty serious stuff.
Throughout Jane Austen’s novels, her characters exhibit a wide range of qualities from integrity to dissipation and vice making them very realistic, and not unlike people of our own acquaintance or popular renown. One could say that the struggle against the seven deadly sins is the driving force in her plots and one of the main reasons why people connect with them so readily. Her most popular characters Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice are prime examples of two of the deadly sins, the offence of pride and wrath. Though Austen does not condemn them for it (as the church might), their vices are the whole axis of the story.
Today we shall look at the sin of pride, also known as vanity which was one of Jane Austen’s most popular choices of the seven deadly sins in her novels. Vanity appears 85 times and pride 111 times. Here are a few choice quotations:
Vanity working on a weak head, produces every sort of mischief. Emma
With insufferable vanity had she believed herself in the secret of every body’s feelings; with unpardonable arrogance proposed to arrange every body’s destiny. Emma
Their vanity was in such good order that they seemed to be quite free from it, and gave themselves no airs; while the praises attending such behaviour, secured and brought round by their aunt, served to strengthen them in believing they had no faults. Mansfield Park
Henry Crawford, ruined by early independence and bad domestic example, indulged in the freaks of a cold-blooded vanity a little too long. Mansfield Park
Catherine listened with astonishment; she knew not how to reconcile two such very different accounts of the same thing; for she had not been brought up to understand the propensities of a rattle, nor to know to how many idle assertions and impudent falsehoods the excess of vanity will lead. Northanger Abbey
From pride, ignorance, or fashion, our foes are almost as many as our readers. Northanger Abbey
In vanity, therefore, she gained but little; her chief profit was in wonder. Northanger Abbey
It was a struggle between propriety and vanity; but vanity got the better, and then Elizabeth was happy again. Persuasion
“That is very true,” replied Elizabeth, “and I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.” Pride and Prejudice
Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonimously. Pride and Prejudice
“Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.” Pride and Prejudice
“Yes, vanity is a weakness indeed.” Pride and Prejudice
If his own vanity, however, did not mislead him, he was the cause, his pride and caprice were the cause. Pride and Prejudice
The world had made him extravagant and vain — extravagance and vanity had made him cold-hearted and selfish. Sense and Sensibility
Vanity while seeking its own guilty triumph at the expense of another, had involved him in a real attachment, which extravagance, or at least its offspring, necessity, had required to be sacrificed. Sense and Sensibility
Of all of Austen’s characters guilty of vanity, Sir Walter Elliot in Persuasion is definitely the leading offender. Austen leaves us in no doubt of his priorities in life toward his appearance and how it impacted his family. Mrs. Allen in Northanger Abbey arrives at a distant second being excessively fond of her clothing and constantly commenting on the inferiority of others choice of fabrics and garments. Who would dare dispute that Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice has the most pride since an entire novel stems from it. Mrs. Fanny Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility in my mind is second in offence of pride after Mr. Darcy. She is so arrogant and prideful that she basically evicts her mother-in-law Mrs. Dashwood out of her home after the death of her father-in-law and talks her own husband out of giving them a decent living – all for her vanity. There are others who come to mind: Miss Elizabeth Elliot in Persuasion who is definitely her father’s daughter, Mrs. Elton in Emma who is arrogance and puffery personified, Miss Mary Crawford in Mansfield Park who thinks herself above the truth, and that tactfully bereft General Tilney in Northanger Abbey who ejects poor Catherine Morland out of his house when he learns that she is not as flush as he thought. The list goes on and on with different degrees of offence, but in the end, we can rest assured that Austen does not treat these offenders lightly, passing her judgment according to propriety and her Christian principles.
Which characters do you find prideful and vain, and do you think that Austen portrayed them correctly?
Even after the conclusion of Mansfield Park Madness, I am still ruminating over the novel and the characters. In order to put them to rest, I must get one thing off my chest! My journey to understand the novel has lead me to several insights and one profound truth.
At the end of chapter 46 when Fanny Price, her sister Susan and cousin Edmund Bertram are returning by carriage to Mansfield Park, Jane Austen gives us a beautiful description of the countryside from Fanny’s perspective.
Fanny had been everywhere awake to the difference of the country since February; but when they entered the Park her perceptions and her pleasures were of the keenest sort. It was three months, full three months, since her quitting it, and the change was from winter to summer. Her eye fell everywhere on lawns and plantations of the freshest green; and the trees, though not fully clothed, were in that delightful state when farther beauty is known to be at hand, and when, while much is actually given to the sight, more yet remains for the imagination. Her enjoyment, however, was for herself alone. Edmund could not share it. She looked at him, but he was leaning back, sunk in a deeper gloom than ever, and with eyes closed, as if the view of cheerfulness oppressed him, and the lovely scenes of home must be shut out.
At that exact moment in my re-reading of Mansfield Park, I had a startling epiphany — a Catherine Earnshaw moment (the heroine of Emily Bronte’s novel Wuthering Heights, — when she ruminates over all of hero Heathcliff’s faults, and then proclaims exuberantly, “I am Heathcliff“, relieved to finally understand herself and know her destiny). I too had my enlightening moment, discovering through Fanny’s eyes as she observes her environment, the people around her, and her feelings that — “I am Fanny Price!”
Ok, I heard that collective “ick” over cyber-space. I know — no one wants to be like a heroine that others think so ill of, who is accused of being meek, bland, insipid, passive and, –gulp– a prig! Heavy faults indeed, which I admit not wanting to be associated with either. However, are these faults fairly applied? Is Fanny Price really as intolerable as some accuse her of being?
Honestly, up until that moment in the novel my impression of Fanny Price had been influenced by the general opinion that she is Jane Austen’s meek and unexciting anti-heroine spawning disparity of opinion to the point of igniting “Fanny Wars” among her advocates and nay-sayers in the Jane Austen community. Amused and baffled by all the controversy, here, here, and here, I had just taken it all in, waiting for my chance to discover the truth, trying to stay objective and unaffected until I could make my own decision.
By Chapter 46, I had been impressed with her sincerity, her kindness and her principles in the face of so much human folly surrounding her at Mansfield Park and at Portsmouth. When her mentor and only friend Edmund attempts to convince her to marry Henry Crawford, her reaction is so profound, so firm, so principled, so honorable that I am amazed that others can discredit her. Who indeed could find fault with such a lovely and virtuous woman who knows herself so acutely that she alone understands what will give her a happy and fulfilling life? Are money and social position more important than principles and love? She thinks not, and I sense that is also the point Jane Austen wants us to discover and question.
So, in defense of Fanny Price I present “The Fanny List“, representing some of her amiable qualities that she exhibits in the novel.
Loyalty, honor, sincerity, attentiveness, virtuous, inquisitiveness, bookishness, quietness, reserved, modesty, kindness, consideration, perception, patience, understanding, and morality
You might think that this is an impressive list of atributes for a heroine, let alone a real person. Please do not misunderstand me when I say “I am Fanny Price”! I proclaim only an affinity to her, not an exact replica. I can only aspire to attain such an exaulted position!
Further-more, when we analyze all of Jane Austen’s seven heroine’s; Elinor & Marianne Dashwood, Elizabeth Bennet, Fanny Price, Emma Woodhouse, Anne Elliot, and Catherine Morland, they all exhibit many of the characteristics on this list. They are personal qualities that society values, and that many aspire to. In my opinion, in a head-to-head throw-down, Fanny Price beats them all, hands down!
Recently, I took an online quiz created by Kali at the Emma Adaptations website which asked “Which Jane Austen heroine are you?” Surprisingly, my result was tabulated as Elizabeth Bennet! Even though I admire the witty and sparkling heroine of Pride and Prejudice, I was astounded that I subliminally thought that our personalities were alike; quite the contrary! On further reflection, we all might admire and aspire to be Lizzy Bennet, — but in reality — we are Fanny Price. Not such a bad thing after all, — in my humble estimation!
*Header photo of the grounds of Newby Hall, Yorkshire where the movie Mansfield Park (2007) was filmed.
“Mrs. Augusta Bramstone – owned that she thought S. & S. – and P. & P. downright nonsense, but expected to like M. P. better, & having finished the 1st vol. – flattered herself she had got through the worst.”–Jane Austen
We have the unique pleasure of still having Jane Austen’s collection of opinions by her family and friends on her novel Mansfield Park which she assembled between 1814-1816. My favorite totally candid remark is listed above as the epigraph. Too funny! One wonders (ever so slightly) if Jane Austen’s mother started the rumor that Fanny Price is insipid, and what Mrs. Lefroy thought of Northanger Abbey three years later! Ha! Enjoy.
“We certainly do not think it as a whole, equal to P. & P. – but it has many & great beauties. Fanny is a delightful Character! and Aunt Norris is a great favourite of mine. The Characters are natural & well supported, & many of the Dialogues excellent. – You need not fear the publication being considered as discreditable to the talents of it’s Author.” – F [rancis] W[illiam] A[usten]
Mr. K. [Edward Austen Knight] not so clever as P. & P. – but pleased with it altogether. Liked the character of Fanny. Admired the Portsmouth Scene.
Edward & George [Knight] not liked it near so well as P. & P. – Edward admired Fanny – George disliked her. – George interested by nobody but Mary Crawford – Edward pleased with Henry C[rawford] – Edmund objected to, as cold & formal. – Henry C[rawford]’s going off with Mrs. R[ushworth], at such a time, when so much in love with Fanny, thought unnatural by Edward.
Fanny Knight liked it, in many parts, very much indeed, delighted with Fanny; – but not satisfied with the end – wanting more Love between her & Edmund – & could not think it natural that Edmund should be so much attached to a woman without Principle like Mary C[rawford] – or promote Fanny’s marrying Henry.
Anna [Lefroy] liked it better than P. & P. – but not so well as S. & S. – could not bear Fanny. – Delighted with Mrs. Norris, the scene at Portsmouth, & all the humourous parts.
Mrs. James Austen, very much pleased. Enjoyed Mrs. Norris particularly, & the scene at Portsmouth. Thought Henry Crawford’s going off with Mrs. Rushworth very natural.
Miss Clewes’s objections much the same as Fanny’s.
Miss Lloyd preferred it altogether to either of the others – Delighted with Fanny. – Hated Mrs. Norris.
My Mother – not liked it so well as P. & P. – Thought Fanny insipid. – Enjoyed Mrs. Norris.
Cassandra – thought it quite as clever, tho’ not so brilliant, as P. & P. – Fond of Fanny. – Delighted much in Mr. Rushworth’s stupidity.
My Eldest Brother [James Austen] – a warm admirer of it in general. – Delighted with the Portsmouth Scene.
[James] Edward [Austen-Leigh] – Much like his Father. – Objected to Mrs. Rushworth’s Elopement as unnatural.
Mr. B[enjamin] L[efroy] – Highly pleased with Fanny Price – & a warm admirer of the Portsmouth Scene. – Angry with Edmund for not being in love with her, & hating Mrs. Norris for teazing her.
Miss Burdett – Did not like it so well as P. & P.
Mrs. James Tilson – Liked it better than P. & P.
Fanny Cage – did not much like it – not to be compared to P. & P. – nothing interesting in the Characters – Language poor. – Characters natural & well supported – Improved as it went on.
Mr. & Mrs. Cooke – very much pleased with it – particularly with the Manner in which the Clergy are treated. – Mr. Cooke called it “the most sensible Novel he had ever read.” – Mrs. Cooke wished for a good Matronly Character.
Mary Cooke – quite as much pleased with it, as her Father & Mother; seemed to enter into Lady B[ertram]’s character, & enjoyed Mr. Rushworth’s folly. Admired Fanny in general; but thought she ought to have been more determined on overcoming her own feelings, when she saw Edmund’s attachment to Miss Crawford.
Miss Burrel – admired it very much – particularly Mrs. Norris & Dr. Grant.
Mrs. Bramstone – much pleased with it; particularly with the character of Fanny, as being so very natural. Thought Lady Bertram like herself. – Preferred it to either of the others – but imagined that might be her want of Taste – as she does not understand Wit.
Mrs. Augusta Bramstone – owned that she thought S. & S. – and P. & P. downright nonsense, but expected to like M. P. better, & having finished the 1st vol. – flattered herself she had got through the worst.
The families at Deane – all pleased with it. – Mrs. Anna Harwood delighted with Mrs. Norris & the green Curtain.
The Kintbury [Fowle] Family – very much pleased with it; – preferred it to either of the others.
Mr. Egerton the Publisher – praised it for it’s Morality, & for being so equal a Composition. – No weak parts.
Lady Robert Kerr wrote – “You may be assured I read every line with the greatest interest & am more delighted with it than my humble pen can express. The excellent delineation of Character, sound sense, Elegant Language & the pure morality with which it abounds, makes it a most desirable as well as useful work, & reflects the highest honour &c. &c.- Universally admired in Edinburgh, by all the wise ones. – Indeed, I have not heard a single fault given to it.”
Miss Sharpe – “I think it excellent – & of it’s good sense & moral Tendency there can be no doubt. – Your Characters are drawn to the Life – so very, very natural & just – but as you beg me to be perfectly honest, I must confess I prefer P. & P.”
Mrs. Carrick. – “All who think deeply & feel much will give the Preference to Mansfield Park.”
Mr. J. Plumptre. – “I never read a novel which interested me so very much throughout, the characters are all so remarkably well kept up & so well drawn, & the plot is so well contrived that I had not an idea till the end which of the two would marry Fanny, H. C[rawford] or Edmund. Mrs. Norris amused me particularly, & Sir Thomas is very clever, & his conduct proves admirably the defects of the modern system of Education.” – Mr. J. P. made two objections, but only one of them was remembered, the want of some character more striking & interesting to the generality of Readers, than Fanny was likely to be.
Sir James Langham & Mr. H. Sanford, – having been told that it was much inferior to P. & P. – began it expecting to dislike it, but were very soon extremely pleased with it – & I beleive, did not think it at all inferior.
Alethea Bigg. – “I have read M. P. & heard it very much talked of, very much praised. I like it myself & think it very good indeed, but as I never say what I do not think, I will add that, although it is superior in a great many points in my opinion to the other two Works, I think it has not the Spirit of P. & P., except perhaps the Price family at Portsmouth, & they are delightful in their way.”
Charles [Austen] – did not like it near so well as P. & P. – thought it wanted Incident.
Mrs. Dickson. – “I have bought M. P. — but it is not equal to P. & P.”
Mrs. Lefroy – liked it, but thought it a mere Novel.
Mrs. Portal – admired it very much – objected cheifly to Edmund’s not being brought more forward.
Lady Gordon wrote – “In most novels you are amused for the time with a set of Ideal People whom you never think of afterwards or whom you the least expect to meet in common life, whereas in Miss A—-‘s works, & especially in M. P. you actually live with them, you fancy yourself one of the family; & the scenes are so exactly descriptive, so perfectly natural, that there is scarcely an Incident, or conversation, or a person, that you are not inclined to imagine you have at one time or other in your Life been a witness to, borne a part in, & been acquainted with.”
Mrs. Pole wrote, – “There is a particular satisfaction in reading all Miss A—-‘s works – they are so evidently written by a Gentlewoman – most Novellists fail & betray themselves in attempting to describe familiar scenes in high Life; some little vulgarism escapes & shews that they are not experimentally acquainted with what they describe, but here it is quite different. Everything is natural, & the situations & incidents are told in a manner which clearly evinces the Writer to belong to the Society whose Manners she so ably delineates.” Mrs. Pole also said that no Books had ever occasioned so much canvassing & doubt, & that everybody was desirous to attribute them to some of their own friends, or to some person of whom they thought highly.
Admiral Foote – surprised that I had the power of drawing the Portsmouth-Scenes so well.
Mrs. Creed – preferred S. & S. and P. & P. – to Mansfield Park.
This list was first published in Jane Austen, The Minor Works, vol. 6 of The Works of Jane Austen, ed. R.W. Chapman (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1954), 431-435
THE NOVELGood sense, like hers, will always act when really called upon; and she found that she had been able to name him to her mother, and recall her remembrance of the name, as that of “William’s friend,” though she could not previously have believed herself capable of uttering a syllable at such a moment. The consciousness of his being known there only as William’s friend was some support. Having introduced him, however, and being all reseated, the terrors that occurred of what this visit might lead to were overpowering, and she fancied herself on the point of fainting away. The Narrator, Chapter 41
Quick Synopsis
Henry visits Fanny in Portsmouth and attempts to show her that he has mended his selfish ways, showing concern for his tenants and her health. He asks her for business advice and she responds, “We have all a better guide in ourselves, if we would attend to it, than any other person can be”. A chatty letter from Mary Crawford confirms that she only values money and connections. Fanny borrows books from the circulating library so she and Susan can study together. Edmund writes to only talk about Mary, and mentions that he saw Maria and Henry together at a party in town. Tom is seriously ill. Three months pass and Fanny longs to be home. Mary writes quizzing Fanny about the extent of Tom’s illness. If he dies, their will be a better man to inherit Mansfield. Mary writes again, warning Fanny of a rumor about Henry. What does it mean? The newspaper reveals that Henry and Maria have run off together. Scandal! Edmund writes to reveal that Julia and Mr. Yates have eloped. She and Susan are summoned immediately to Mansfield. Everyone there is in a sour mood. Aunt Norris blames Fanny for Henry’s actions. No sign of the couple. Tom improves and will live. Edmund has a falling out with Mary and is done with her. Henry will not marry Maria, so in support of her favorite niece, Mrs. Norris leaves Mansfield to live with her. Edmund realizes he is in love with Fanny and they marry to live in Mansfield parsonage. Sir Thomas finally has the daughter he longed for. The end!
Musings
I am continually struck by what good sense Fanny has in the face of pressure and adversity. She often acts as everyone ought, the moral compass of principled decorum. Her visit to Portsmouth is quite an eye opener for the reader and the heroine. Jane Austen does not write about poverty often, but she certainly has the knack for it. I am in no doubt of the shabby condition of the household, the coarseness of her father with his ‘oaths’ and drinking, the unruly ragamuffin siblings, and the indifference of her mother to it all. Sir Thomas may have sent her there to see what a small income means, but I laughed out loud at our dear Fanny’s expense when I read this passage!
After being nursed up at Mansfield, it was too late in the day to be hardened at Portsmouth; and though Sir Thomas, had he known all, might have thought his niece in the most promising way of being starved, both mind and body, into a much juster value for Mr. Crawford’s good company and good fortune, he would probably have feared to push his experiment farther, lest she might die under the cure. The Narrator, Chapter 42
Too true! To torment her further, Henry Crawford arrives and is so civil and genteel, reminding her of her cousins and the more refined life that she has come to appreciate at Mansfield Park. When he begins to tell her of his concern for his tenants, I am a bit suspicious. Austen really starts to lay on the sympathy for Henry to confuse her, and us. Will he truly be reformed by his love of Fanny? He alone seems to be aware of how abominably her cousins treat her at Mansfield, even more so from a distance, as they have forgotten her in Portsmouth and do not write. He sees the change in her health and knows that she must walk and take the air to maintain it. It all starts to add up in Fanny’s mind.
And, if in little things, must it not be so in great? So anxious for her health and comfort, so very feeling as he now expressed himself, and really seemed, might not it be fairly supposed that he would not much longer persevere in a suit so distressing to her? The Narrator, Chapter 42
The story quickly turns to be all about Mary Crawford and her continued hope to mold Edmund into the rich and prominent man she craves. Through a series of letters Fanny is kept informed of the dealings of her cousins. It is her lifeline, and she anxiously awaits word as the news in each letter brings new anxieties and concerns. Foremost on her mind is Edmund and Mary’s relationship. Will he propose? But he is silent and only Mary, who Fanny would rather not correspond with at all writes boasting of her society friend’s approval of him. Mary only values material things; a house in town, parties and praise from society and Fanny is disgusted by it. Mary is being influenced by her environment and friends!
Yet there was no saying what Miss Crawford might not ask. The prospect for her cousin grew worse and worse. The woman who could speak of him, and speak only of his appearance! What an unworthy attachment! To be deriving support from the commendations of Mrs. Fraser! She who had known him intimately half a year! Fanny was ashamed of her. The Narrator, Chapter 43
The long letter that Fanny has been anticipating finally arrives from Edmund. He does see Mary’s faults and her fixation on the values that he has questioned from the very first. She is even more corrupted by her friends and the changes he sees in her from the influence of Mrs. Fraser a cold-hearted, vain woman who married for convenience has altered Mary for the worse. He sees the differences between what she wants (money) and what he can offer more acutely. Still conflicted he shares an important observation with Fanny.
“I cannot give her up, Fanny. She is the only woman in the world whom I could ever think of as a wife. If I did not believe that she had some regard for me, of course I should not say this, but I do believe it. I am convinced that she is not without a decided preference.” Edmund Bertram, Chapter 44
Fanny, with her gentle and patient manner exclaims to herself that he should “Fix, commit, condemn yourself “. Bravo! She has had enough vacillation, and wants relief from the prolonged agony of not knowing. When Lady Bertram writes to alert Fanny that Tom is gravely ill, I though that they might send for her, but no. She must continue in her exile with her family, away from all whom she really cares about. Fanny is further appalled when Mary writes to quiz her for information on the extent of Tom’s illness. Material girl that Mary is, Edmund now becomes an even better catch should he become the heir to a Baronet if his brother dies.
She (Fanny) was more inclined to hope than fear for her cousin (Tom), except when she thought of Miss Crawford; but Miss Crawford gave her the idea of being the child of good luck, and to her selfishness and vanity it would be good luck to have Edmund the only son. The Narrator, Chapter 45
The next few chapters of the novel swiftly move to the climax and conclusion packed with so much action and drama that the pages just fly by for me. Fanny will receive two letters that change the entire course of her family and her life. The first letter hastily written and brief, is from Mary warning Fanny of a rumor about Henry. She is puzzled. What does it mean? To learn the whole story by chance is a clever twist by Austen when Fanny’s father discovers the scandalous tidbit in the gossip section of the London newspaper. Henry and Maria have run away together, and the couple’s whereabouts are unknown. Astonishing!
“but so many fine ladies were going to the devil nowadays that way, that there was no answering for anybody.” Mr. Price, Chapter 46
That Austen should give the simple and unrefined Mr. Price the delivery of such an insightful line is hysterical and very effective. Fanny’s reaction is a telling sign of her good nature, always wanting to believe the best of everyone and everything. She does not want to acknowledge it, but pieces the facts together from Mary’s letter and changes her mind. The second letter from Edmund confirms her fears and adds to others in his news that Julia and Mr. Yates have scandalized the family further and eloped to Scotland. Sir Thomas has requested that she return home immediately, and Edmund will arrive tomorrow to fetch her and Susan. Incredible! She has been released from her exile, but has she been forgiven? Edmund and Fanny have a joyful reunion “My Fanny, my only sister; my only comfort now!”, and she sees that Edmund is in low spirits and very quiet. She is very glad to quickly be on their way home!
How her heart swelled with joy and gratitude as she passed the barriers of Portsmouth, and how Susan’s face wore its broadest smiles, may be easily conceived. The Narrator, Chapter 46
How will the rest of the family be when she arrives after a three month absence and under such distressing conditions? Sour and sullen. Amazingly, Mrs. Norris is in the worst state having taken her favorite niece Maria’s impropriety personally since she had recommended the match. She shifts the blame very quickly though, now censuring Fanny for the couple’s wild behavior. If she had accepted Henry’s proposal he would have not looked elsewhere for amusements. Edmund is quiet and distant for some time until he finally confides in Fanny, relaying his final conversation with Mary Crawford and her downfall in his eyes.
“but the manner in which she spoke of the crime itself, giving it every reproach but the right; considering its ill consequences only as they were to be braved or overborne by a defiance of decency and impudence in wrong; and last of all, and above all, recommending to us a compliance, a compromise, an acquiescence in the continuance of the sin, on the chance of a marriage which, thinking as I now thought of her brother, should rather be prevented than sought; all this together most grievously convinced me that I had never understood her before, and that, as far as related to mind, it had been the creature of my own imagination, not Miss Crawford, that I had been too apt to dwell on for many months past. That, perhaps, it was best for me; I had less to regret in sacrificing a friendship, feelings, hopes which must, at any rate, have been torn from me now. And yet, that I must and would confess that, could I have restored her to what she had appeared to me before, I would infinitely prefer any increase of the pain of parting, for the sake of carrying with me the right of tenderness and esteem.’ Edmund Bertram, chapter 47
The final blow in his view against her character and good judgment will be in her seeing the fault not in the deed itself, but that they were not clever enough to hide it and continue clandestinely. Her desire for Henry and Maria to marry and for his family to overlook the ‘sin’ and accept them back is more than he can abide. He now sees that he has never understood her before, and been deluded into overlooking her true nature. Again, Austen allows us to see people’s foibles through adversity, when our true principles are tested. Mary’s final decline in Edmund’s esteem is a great example of this. He is now done with her forever. His fears that he shall never meet another woman so fine again soon change.
Scarcely had he done regretting Mary Crawford, and observing to Fanny how impossible it was that he should ever meet with such another woman, before it began to strike him whether a very different kind of woman might not do just as well, or a great deal better: whether Fanny herself were not growing as dear, as important to him in all her smiles and all her ways, as Mary Crawford had ever been; and whether it might not be a possible, an hopeful undertaking to persuade her that her warm and sisterly regard for him would be foundation enough for wedded love. The Narrator, Chapter 48
So this is the extent of the romance for Fanny and Edmund? I do admit to feeling a bit cheated, given only a few short passages on the last page, but in looking back on their relationship throughout the novel it had been foreshadowed long ago by Austen through their friendship and mutual regard for each other. Is she slyly telling us that men and women can not be friends. That their is always more in any man – woman realtionship? Sadly, there is no proposal and acceptance scene. Drat! However, just like Edmund I also came to think of their being a couple as a natural thing, and not a reaction to his rejection of Mary. Austen wraps up the novel in a neat package very quickly.
Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery. I quit such odious subjects as soon as I can, impatient to restore everybody, not greatly in fault themselves, to tolerable comfort, and to have done with all the rest. The Narrator, Chapter 48
Those who have erred and behaved badly get their just deserts, hurrah! Henry will not marry Maria and she leaves him to live with Mrs. Norris, who “it may be reasonably supposed that their tempers became their mutual punishment“, Julia and Mr. Yates are eventually accepted back into the fold (after Sir Thomas comes to understand the extent of his wealth), Dr. Grant is promoted to Westminster and moves to London, dies from a fit of apoplexy from eating three rich dinners in one week, Mary lives with her widowed sister in London unable to find again such a fine man among the dandies in London, and Henry regrets the loss of Fanny forever, and ever! Sir Thomas, the one person who had also acted badly throughout the novel changes – now sees the error of his ways through the neglect of his daughter’s education – and is happy that he has found the daughter that he had always wanted in Fanny. Edmund succeeds to the living of Mansfield, and they live happily ever after in the shadow of Mansfield Park.
On that event they removed to Mansfield; and the Parsonage there, which, under each of its two former owners, Fanny had never been able to approach but with some painful sensation of restraint or alarm, soon grew as dear to her heart, and as thoroughly perfect in her eyes, as everything else within the view and patronage of Mansfield Park had long been. The Narrator, Chapter 48
Further reading
Online text complements of Molland’s Circulating Library
Chapter 41-48 quotes and quips
Leave a comment to by August 30 qualify for the free drawing on August 31 for one copy of.
Mansfield Park: Broadview Literary Texts Series
Broadview Press (2001). Novel text and introduction and notes by June Sturrock. Trade paperback, 528 pages, ISBN 978-1551110981
Upcoming posts
Day 15 – Aug 29 MP: Sequels, Spinoff’s and Retellings
Day 16 – Aug 30 MP: The Scoop! What People Are Saying
Day 17 – Aug 31 MP Madness Roundup & Conclusion
THE NOVELHe was in love, very much in love; and it was a love which, operating on an active, sanguine spirit, of more warmth than delicacy, made her affection appear of greater consequence because it was withheld, and determined him to have the glory, as well as the felicity, of forcing her to love him. The Narrator on Henry Crawford, Chapter 33
Quick Synopsis
Henry persists in his quest for Fanny’s hand. Sir Thomas solicits Edmunds help, who attempts to discern what Fanny’s doubts are. He insists it was Henry’s abrupt delivery. She tells him she can not love a man of such unprincipled character. Everyone at Mansfield and the parsonage know of Henry’s proposal and in their own way try to chisel away at Fanny’s resolve. William visits on leave. Sir Thomas sees an opportunity for Fanny to see the difference that a good income can bring, and sends her home to her impoverished family in Portsmouth. Anxious to be with people who love her, the household, her parents and her siblings are a shock, and the complete opposite of her tranquil, ordered, and quiet home at Mansfield Park. Sister Susan shows some interest in improving herself and gives Fanny some hope. Edmund is more in love with Mary than ever, visiting her in London. Fanny dreads the post, fearful of what news it will bring.
Musings
After Fanny’s rejection of Henry’s offer of marriage, I am amazed at what lengths everyone takes to change her indifference to him. No one honors her decision and proceed to create excuses why she declined. Sir Thomas encourages Henry to continue his pursuit, which he does relentlessly, even though she shows him no encouragement at all. Having always won a ladies heart, he is both invigorated by her rejection and certain he will succeed. (conceited lout) Sir Thomas increases the pressure by telling his wife Lady Bertram and her sister Mrs. Norris of Henry’s proposal. They have opposite reactions; Lady Bertram thinks it an honor to her family to attract such a wealthy and handsome suitor, and Mrs. Norris takes it as an insult to her niece Julia who they all wanted Henry to marry from the beginning.
Angry she (Mrs. Norris) was: bitterly angry; but she was more angry with Fanny for having received such an offer than for refusing it. It was an injury and affront to Julia, who ought to have been Mr. Crawford’s choice; and, independently of that, she disliked Fanny, because she had neglected her; and she would have grudged such an elevation to one whom she had been always trying to depress. The Narrator, Chapter 33
I has stunned and disappointed in Edmund’s part in the interrogations, working away at his friend Fanny on behalf of his father. His actions hurt her the most since he was her mentor and only friend at Mansfield Park up until Mary Crawford corrupted him. All of his conversation now is tainted by her influence. When Edmund insists that he knows the truth of the rejection based on her surprise alone, I am angry at his arrogance and appalled that he suggests she should now let Henry succeed, and show everyone that she is the “perfect model of a woman which I have always believed you born for” Outrageous attitude from any friend, let alone a minister of the church. Where have his principles gone? I admire Fanny’s tenacity. She knows her mind and her own temperament. She explains that she and Henry are too different in nature to be happy together and does not waver from her position. Edmund, more than anyone in her circle should honor her wish to marry for love alone since his heart is also strongly inclined to the same desire, even though he has struggled against the unsuitability of his attachment to Mary Crawford for almost the entire novel!
On his (Edmund) side the inclination was stronger, on hers less equivocal. His objections, the scruples of his integrity, seemed all done away, nobody could tell how; and the doubts and hesitations of her ambition were equally got over-and equally without apparent reason. It could only be imputed to increasing attachment. His good and her bad feelings yielded to love, and such love must unite them. The Narrator, Chapter 37
The final wedge in an attempt to break Fanny’s spirit is Sir Thomas’ banishment of her to Portsmouth. His private plan is to let her see the difference that a good income can mean to her comfort, and motivate her to accept Henry Crawford with all his gentility and wealth. At first she sees it as a refuge from the pressures at Mansfield, and a benefit to be with family who truly love her, but after being reunited she soon discovers the disparity of the two households. Her parents, her siblings and their impoverished lifestyle are a quite a shock to a young lady who has become accustomed to living in the home of a Baronet. The noise, squalor and the indifference of her parents to her cruelly remind her of the peace, tranquility and order at her home, Mansfield Park. William departs for sea, and with no friend left in the world to support her, she is truly alone. Fearful of the pending news from London of Edmund and Mary’s engagement she waits for the other shoe to drop. Even under these adverse circumstances, our heroine is still optimistic.
Fanny soon became more disposed to admire the natural light of the mind which could so early distinguish justly, than to censure severely the faults of conduct to which it led. The Narrator, Chapter 40
With so much romantic turmoil in these last eight chapters, I am more than a bit uneasy with the uncertainty. Austen is building to a climax and I am all anticipation. We shall see if everyone ends up with who they love, or don’t know they love, and who gets their comeuppance. I have never known her to cheat us out of a wedding or two at the end, or a bit of moralizing for those unruly characters who stirred up the plot. One can never be certain though until the curtain falls on this theatrical.
Further reading
Online text complements of Molland’s Circulating Library
Chapter 33-40 quotes and quips
Leave a comment to by August 30 qualify for the free drawing on August 31 for one copy of.
Mansfield Park: Oxford World’s Classics
Oxford University Press (2008). Revised edition. Novel text and introduction and notes by Jane Stabler. Trade paperback, 418 pages, ISBN 978-0199535538
Upcoming posts
Day 13 – Aug 27 MP 2007 movie discussion
Day 14 – Aug 28 MP novel discussion chapter 41-48
Day 15 – Aug 29 MP: Sequels, Spinoff’s and Retellings
Day 16 – Aug 30 MP: The Scoop! What People Are Saying
Austenprose 