I'm on my third (or fourth?) reading of Mansfield Park and instead of airing my literature dork comments only to Daniel's uninterested & trying-to-fall-asleep-ears, I've decided to put my thoughts on paper and share them with any fellow nerds out there in internet-land. Warning: my inner-essay lover is out in full force in the writing below. I seriously can't help it. I tried to write this post in a conversational way and this is the best I could do. I swear I'm less boring in real life!
Here are my thoughts on Mansfield Park:
Fanny Price, the introverted heroine of Mansfield Park, is one of my favorite literary characters of all time. Fanny is in no way an exciting, witty, or adventurous heroine. She's quiet, she always desires to do the right thing, she is kind and good, and has all the sensible qualities that in any other storyteller's hands would make for an extremely dull plot. Fanny cares more about other people than she does herself and always tries to place the desires of her comically selfish, spoiled rich family above her own. In Austen's wry ironic way, the Bertram family verbally applauds Fanny's goodness while in action exploiting her kindness for their own selfish comfort. Though Fanny is meek and gentle, she is in no way weak or naive. She has an extremely strong sense of self and of right, which she uses to stand up boldly against injustice.
In Mansfield Park, Austen invites us to peer beyond the surface and into the core of Fanny's heart, revealing her insecurities and her deepest embarrassments, in the process hitting upon universally felt human experiences. We all know what it's like to be mortified by a callous passive-agressive comment during a social exchange. We all have felt the hurt of being left out of the group. We feel Fanny's pain and (later) her joy right along with her, because they are reflective of our own pain and joy. Modern feminist attitudes aside, Austen's writing of the female heart is still entirely relevant and engaging. That's the genius of Jane Austen, she is still meeting us right where we are centuries after she has ceased writing.
Sarah
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