Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

SPOILER ALERT!!
Mansfield Park was one of three Austen novels I was yet to read, so naturally I was excited to find out if it had the same charm and wit as its predecessors.

 
Unfortunately, this was not to be.

The story wasn’t anything particularly special or ground-breaking – in fact, it was rather dull and hard to follow in places. I found the first 100 pages to be very taxing. I wished that Fanny Price (what a first name!) would shake things up and do some self-discovery or interfere with the dynamics at Mansfield to an extent that the other characters would be forever changed. Sadly, no exciting plot points came to fruition until Volume 2, when Sir Thomas finally returns to Mansfield after a long absence in the West Indies. Only from this point onwards does the story take shape.

Another grievance I had was the appearance of plot points in odd places. For example, when Fanny returns to her family home in Portsmouth for 3 months, the narrator gives the readers a quick run-down of why Mrs. Price is so devoted to her youngest daughter, Betsy. That run-down involves the death of a child and a hole that is subsequently filled by the birth of Betsy, which explains why she gets away with being naughty. Um…?

First of all, the death of a sister of Fanny’s that is only explained past the half-way point of the novel is a bit poor. Wouldn’t an important detail like that be introduced in the first volume? Wouldn’t it perhaps drive Fanny to live life to the fullest and take every opportunity that came her way? Also, why wasn’t there more emphasis placed on this detail outside these two paragraphs?! It is never mentioned again except for when Mr. Crawford buys Betsy a silver knife to prevent her from taking Susan’s that was left to her by her sister. It is almost as if that plot point was a means to an end in making Mr. Crawford appear less gruesome to Fanny! The death of a child is not a minor thing and I found that it was a missed opportunity to make the surrounded characters more well-rounded or even show more emotion. If you’re writing a book to follow Pride and Prejudice, there are some high expectations to meet. In respect to the nature of the characters in Mansfield Park, they missed the bar.

Probably the most frustrating moments of the book were the scenes where Fanny was “stuck” at her family home with “no way” to return to Mansfield after hearing the news of Tom’s ill health, Julia’s elopement, Maria and Mr. Crawford’s rendezvous and affair, and, finally, Edmund’s failure to set things right. She would fret over letters and think about how hopeless her situation, being forgotten by her uncle, when she could have asked him in a letter to send for her. I know that, in the 1800s, it would have been impertinent to ask for such a thing, let alone to hire a carriage and go herself, but it was so bloody annoying seeing her do absolutely nothing about her family’s turmoil! In conversations I’ve had with friends about the book, this is the plot point that I rant about the most. It pales in comparison to the trials and tribulations in the first two novels by Austen. Depressing and not at all fun to read.

Despite my many negative feelings towards the book, I found it wasn’t all doom and gloom. I really liked Edmund Bertram and his kindness. He was such a good-hearted (albeit naive) person who gave the story a much-needed lift when Fanny’s misery surfaced. He was easy to like, and I found that I was most engaged with his scenes. A good balance for the horrible and unlikeable characters!

Throughout the book, I discovered various memorable quotes. One of these came from Mrs. Norris who tells Fanny to “remember, you are the lowest and the last”. I was shocked after reading it and it served to be extremely indicative of Mrs. Norris’ character, as well as situating Fanny’s place amongst the extended family at Mansfield for a sizeable chunk of the book.

An antithetical quote popped up later for me, this time from Sir Thomas. It was the very last chapter of the book and was probably one of the strongest cases of character development I could find. He is in the middle of ruminating upon his parenting skills in regards to his daughters: “he feared that principle, active principle, had been wanting, that they had never been properly taught to govern their inclinations and tempers, by that sense of duty which can alone suffice…To be extinguished for elegance and accomplishments – the authorised object of their youth – could have had no useful influence that way, no moral effect on the mind.” I can’t remember any books that I have read that took time out to focus on the parental responsibilities of characters. I loved every word of that paragraph because, really, Sir Thomas did stuff up as a parent and it was important for him to recognise the faults of his daughters and how better to treat others as a consequence.

Finally, a romantic quote I found that made me gush was: “what was there now to add, but that he should learn to prefer soft light eyes to sparkling dark ones”. I’m so thrilled that Edmund left that awful Mary Crawford behind for Fanny! Inevitable? Perhaps. But adorable nonetheless.

Overall, it was my least favourite work of Austen’s to date, but I managed to pick out some really gratifying and sophisticated elements from it that I wouldn’t have expected.

If you are wanting to read all of Austen’s books, I would still recommend it. However, if you’re looking for the best one to read, I would advise you to try Sense and Sensibility as, currently, it is the best one I’ve read.

What did you think of Mansfield Park? Were you a fan of the characters or did you find them wanting? What was your favourite part? Comment and let me know!