Mansfield Park. Jane Austen.

Mansfield Park
Jane Austen
London: J. Murray, Albemarle Street. 1916.

Why read it? Novel. Example of life at a different time (early 19th century) in a different society (British). In a sense, Austen's novels are soap operas. The plots move at a snail's pace and feature many twists and turns. However, they are about real people who use and hurt other people. In this novel, two good people emerge--Fanny and Edmund--and they eventually find their way to each other. Austen tells a good story.

The following summary was taken from Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia. Fourth Edition. Ed. Bruce Murphy. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. 1996.

Fanny Price is adopted into the family of her rich uncle, Sir Thomas Bertram. Brought up with the four Bertram children, she is condescendingly treated as a poor relation by "Aunt Norris," a satirical portrait of a busybody. Of her cousins, only Edmund, a young clergyman, appreciates her fine qualities, and she falls in love with him. He, unfortunately, is irresistibly drawn to the shallow, worldly Mary Crawford. In the meantime, Mary's attractive, unscrupulous brother Henry flirts violently with Maria Bertram, Edmund's sister, who is already engaged. Realizing his intentions are not serious, the disappointed Maria goes through with her marriage as planned.

Henry turns his attentions to Fanny, falls in love with her, and proposes marriage. She refuses him because of his flirtatious and insincere nature, much to the disapproval of Sir Thomas and the rest of her family. Henry then induces Maria to leave her husband and elopes with her. Mary Crawford takes this scandal very lightly, and, in addition, she expresses hopes that the older son Tom, who is very ill, will die, leaving the family fortune to Edmund. Otherwise she disapproves of marrying a clergyman. These events open Edmund's eyes to her true nature. He turns to fanny for comfort, falls in love with her, and marries her.