Book Review: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

Book title: Mansfield Park
Author: Jane Austen
Genre: Classic
Published: 1814
479 pages
My rating: 5/5

“Fanny Price was at this time just ten years old, and though there might not be much in her first appearance to captivate, there was, at least, nothing to disgust her relations. She was small of her age, with no glow of complexion, nor any other striking beauty; exceedingly timid and shy, and shrinking from notice; but her air, though awkward, was not vulgar, her voice was sweet, and when she spoke her countenance was pretty.”

My choice for this year’s Jane Austen July was Austen’s third published novel, Mansfield Park. This review is a rather spoilery one, so if you haven’t read all (or any) of Jane Austen’s novels, be warned. Ten-year-old Fanny Price is sent to live with her rich relatives at Mansfield Park. Growing up with her cousins, she is constantly aware how precarious her place in society is. When a dashing couple from London, Henry and Mary Crawford, enter this rural world, they manage to dazzle everyone except Fanny, who sees through their superficial glamour.

“Henry’s approbation hitherto is even equal to my wishes; he says it is very different from the other two, but does not appear to think it at all inferior. He has only married Mr R. I am afraid he has gone through the most entertaining part.” – Jane’s letter to Cassandra, March 2–3, 1814

Mansfield Park was the first Jane Austen novel I read back when I was in high school, and I loved it. Later on, Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion would take their places as my favorites, but Mansfield Park still holds the third place in my list of favorite Jane Austen novels. This is the one of Austen’s novels that gets mixed reviews. Based on the letter quoted above, Austen herself was afraid that Mansfield Park wouldn’t be as entertaining as her previous novels. Part of the reason might be that Fanny Price is an unusual heroine: shy, introverted, chronically ill, parentified oldest daughter with negligent mother and alcoholic father. She doesn’t have the wit and vivacity of Elizabeth Bennet and Emma Woodhouse. But as an introvert myself, I have a soft spot for Fanny and find her struggles relatable.

Mansfield Park is not a romance novel, and it’s really not even a book about Fanny. It’s the story of Mansfield Park and how one family is nearly ruined by selfish pursuit of money, status, and hedonistic pleasure. Sir Thomas Bertram leaves his family to take care of business in his plantations in Antigua and to save himself from financial ruin. His indolent wife is incapable of taking care of the family while he is gone, and the task falls into the hands of his officious sister-in-law Mrs. Norris, whose sole purpose is to save money and to make sure Fanny Price does not think too highly of herself. His son Tom and his daughters Maria and Julia only care for pleasure – whether it’s horse racing or flirting or acting (as part of Jane Austen July, I also read Lovers’ Vows, the play they plan to stage in the book. A review to come in the monthly wrap-up post). Maria’s choice of a husband is purely dictated by the motives of status and wealth. Even Sir Thomas’s otherwise sensible second son Edmund falters when two rich Londoners come to the village, bringing with them a whiff of fashionable and morally corrupt city life. The only constant in this story is Fanny, who observes everything that happens and draws her own conclusions. To the modern reader, her moral superiority (she is never wrong in the novel) can make her rather unlikable, especially as she is never fully cured from her only character flaw (aka, being too accommodating).

Mansfield Park should not be read as a romance, at least unless you want to be heavily disappointed. It is the least romantic of Austen’s novels and should rather be read as a social commentary on the selfishness of rich people. The romance between Fanny and Edmund is rather lackluster, especially when it comes to Edmund’s side of the story. Fanny’s choice of who she loves at least makes sense. Neglected, abused, and overlooked – of course she falls in love with the only person who shows kindness to her. I do agree with the critics that Fanny deserved better than either Edmund or Henry, but in the end, Fanny does get what she always wanted, although her happy ending might come with similar bittersweetness as Marianne Dashwood’s marriage to Colonel Brandon.

One reason why I feel the romance fails is due to the pacing of the book. This is the one Jane Austen novel where I feel the middle of the book could have been shorter and the ending correspondingly longer. Now Edmund’s change of heart happens in the last chapter and is merely reported by the narrator as happening “exactly at the time when it was quite natural that it should be so, and not a week earlier.” If the ending was less rushed, the romance might work better.

In any case, I think Edmund makes a better partner for Fanny than Henry Crawford. Fanny would never have been able to trust that Henry had truly changed, and Mary Crawford herself thinks it’s inevitable that he would have continued to flirt with Maria Rushworth even after marriage. Henry was too morally depraved, unlike Mr. Darcy or Captain Wenthworth, whose faults were never in their morals. I will forever applaud Jane Austen for saying no to the “reformed rake” nonsense.

If you love Jane Austen and don’t expect this book to be a romance, I’m sure you will find much to love in Mansfield Park. I’m giving it (like every other Jane Austen book) five stars.