Mansfield Park

Author:  Jane Austen

Begun: Jan 9th 2025

Finished: Jan 11th 2025

Type: Audiobook on Libro.FM

Narrator: Karen Savage

Rating: 6/10

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Given that Austen herself names Mrs. Norris as the villain of the piece, I suddenly realized why Filch names his creepy cat Mrs. Norris.  A google search corroborated this surmise.

There are three sisters.  One marries well.  One marries middling.  One marries poorly.  The one who marries poorly has a billion children.  The one who marries well takes in one of the children to help relieve the burden and expense somewhat.

And thus nine year old Fanny Price comes to Mansfield Park, where she neglected, used, abused, discounted, and gaslit by everyone for ten years.  Mrs. Norris in particular is a really vicious piece of work.  The only one who is somewhat kind to her is Edmund - and even he is an absolute fool who forgets her when it's convenient.  

Edmund's father, Sir Thomas, the only person keeping his family from going off the rails, sails out to Antigua to deal with his slaves on his plantation.  Yeah, really.  

A new parson moves in to the parsonage, bringing with him a wife and his wife's siblings.  All hell breaks loose.

There are so many things that absolutely infuriated me almost past bearing in the book.  The persecution of Fanny by Henry Crawford in the name of love, aided and abetted by every other character was horrific to read, and one can't help feeling sick along with Fanny.  That coupled with Austen declaring that if Henry had persisted in his persecution....uh, I mean "courtship", Fanny would have eventually come to love him, made him a good wife, and would have fixed him, made me incandescent with rage.  I mean, in the novel she writes that Henry would have married Fanny, yet still carried on "flirtations", and I guess that was a ok thing???

Flames.  Flames on the side of my face.

My heart aches for all the women living during that time to had to endure this type of thinking.

Austen, clearly, wanted to do some moralizing, with all the awful things that happened in the novel stemming from:

- A lack of strict parent making everyone behave (when Sir Henry pops off to Antigua)

- A parent being too strict (Sir Henry. I mean come on! Make a choice! Either he's too strict or not strict enough!  The man can't win for losing)

- Mrs. Norris' overindulgence

- Mrs. Bertram being totally checked out and lazy.  Just how many drugs what that woman on?

- "Town" morals.  London is evil I tell you.  Eeeeeeevil.

- A play.  Apparently putting on a play is SHOCKING!!!

While many regard Fanny as a wet noodle, it's clear she's not without courage, as she refuses to act despite intense peer pressure, and refuses to accept Henry's offer of marriage despite everyone pressuring her to do so.  Cruelly pressuring her in some instances.  She's quiet, effacing, often ill, but she's not weak.  Meek, yes.  Weak, no.

Edmund is set up as the hero, because he's the only one who's kind to Fanny.  But his is a careless kindness, and the man is an absolute freaking idiot.  Not only that, when things go wrong and everyone's upset he's all, "Hey, Fanny, I know you're upset but think of ME. It's all about ME."  Faugh.

Anyway, this is the second time I've read Mansfield Park, and it's solidified how much I hate it.  Fanny's nice.  But in an alternate, better universe, everyone else would have been murdered in their sleep and Fanny would have lived happily ever after without them.

I am THRILLED that Maria and Mrs. Norris end up stuck together for the rest of their lives in a quiet out of the way community though.  Hahahahahahahahaaa.  =D.