Mansfield Park

To all those who haven’t read Mansfield Park, I recommend you do so immediately, because this review contains spoilers (duh).

Mansfield Park, beautiful story, is definitely one of Austen’s best works. It follows the life of a young, poor girl named Fanny Price, who is sent to her richer relations, the Bertrams at Mansfield Park, to live with. She grows up, living and behaving differently from the rest of the family. She is treated like an outsider, in what becomes her home for the majority of her life, until she makes herself an inseparable part of Mansfield Park. Filled to the brim with drama, Mansfield Park is a story of how Fanny Price finds love.

To talk about the characters, I find that Fanny Price and Edmund Bertram care too much about “propriety”, and the others, none at all. Mrs Norris is way too annoying and I absolutely despise her character. I think J.K. Rowling based that abominable cat on her. Lady Bertram is rather spineless, and only exists for comic relief. Mary Crawford’s character is more or less shapeshifting. I don't know whether to like her not. Mr. Crawford is a fuckboy at best.

The Bertram sisters deserve a paragraph of their own. Maria Bertram’s influence on Julia reminds me of Lydia and Kitty Bennet. Once Maria is out of the picture, Julia sort of improves, thus becoming one of the better characters of the lot. But Maria. I have no idea where to start. First, she becomes engaged to Mr. Rushmore, without thinking about it. Then she falls for Mr Crawford’s charms. When he changes his affections, she goes and marries Mr. Rushmore. At this point I actually felt for her, and admired her pride, but she went and ruined it by having affair with Mr. Crawford. 

Now, about the men in the family. Sir Thomas Bertram has a good, proud character, if we leave the slaves. Although he is absent for most of the story, he acts as a balancing force. The eldest Bertram is extremely untoward. Luckily, he becomes more responsible at the end. Edmund Bertram is our hero, the love of Fanny’s life, even though they are cousins. He is kind hearted and the first one to really try to make Fanny feel welcome. Mr Rushmore is married to Maria, so he’s a part of the family too. “Vain” is the word used to describe his personality wholly.

Fanny’s relationship with her siblings is a thing to be noted. William Price, Fanny’s elder brother is an ideal man, a complete opposite of Mr Crawford. Her younger sister, Susan reminds me of a more grateful Elizabeth Bennet.

The love between Fanny and Edmund, is more sibling-ly than romantic. Marriage between them makes me queasy now, but I guess it was normal then. However I find it weird, that Fanny even shows affection towards Mr Crawford. I agree that there was some chemistry between them, and they would've made a better pair than Fanny and Edmund. But again, the affair came at the right time to save Fanny from a bad match.

The thing I liked most about Fanny, is her steadfastness. Whatever ideals she had, she held on to them till the very end. She never declined a request or favor. At the Price home, she handled situations maturely, and didn't make a fuss. She always knew how privileged she was and never let it get into her head.

All in all, we can all agree that it is one amazing story. Perfect to read on a rainy day with some hot tea.