Mansfield Park - Jane Austen

I started reading Mansfield Park several years ago at university but, due to the onset of a nervous breakdown, was unable to finish it. My first foray into Austen, related as it was with such an occurrence, could not fail to leave an indelibly negative impression. Published in 1814, it is often described as Austen's most 'profound' novel, but also her most unpopular, principally owing to the painfully passive heroine of Fanny Price. Whilst not exactly sharing this opinion, I did find the majority of the narrative a chore to get through, though not as bad as the odious Emma. Following the format of the classic 'Cinderella' story, Mansfield Park begins with demure and feeble Fanny removed from her lower middle class residence in Portsmouth to live with her wealthy relations, the Bertrams, at their country estate in Northamptonshire.

There she is met with indifference and derision, being constantly reminded of her inferior social standing. Despite the predominance of general neglect, Fanny finds solace in her charitable cousin Edmund, whom she predictably falls in love with. Her austere, baronet uncle and patriarch of the family, Sir Thomas, goes abroad to oversee business on his Antigua plantations, paving the way for dissension to infiltrate Mansfield in his absence. Trouble arrives from London in the appearance of the fashionable and captivating Crawford siblings, Henry and Mary. From that point on, the characters are embroiled in a tangle of flirtatious liaisons and improper pursuits, such as the staging of a risqué play which takes up a large portion of the novel and was decidedly tedious. Fanny remains apart, watching in disquietude as the danger unfolds...

No doubt a clever novel, well written, and charged to the seams with telling symbolism, Mansfield Park reflects a world on the brink of massive upheaval. Traditional aristocratic landowners, as represented by the Bertrams, were soon to give way to the increasing pressures of the Industrial Revolution. Staid, conservative moral principles are assailed by the false allures of Jacobinism; the Crawfords being the corrupting outsiders who threaten to undermine and destroy the family unit. Much has also been written on the subject of colonialism and empire; allusions to slavery in the text paint an uncomfortable picture of ill-attained prosperity, whilst the question of inheritance versus active employment, always a favourite of Austen's, raises the usual issues. An important, even interesting book of the 19th century, yet unforgivably long-winded in sections, and Fanny is simply infuriating in her timidity.

Rating: 2/5