Written in the aftermath of the French Revolution when England was undergoing a period of restless change, Mansfield Park is one of Austen’s most mature pieces of fiction. As Mary Crawford remarks, “everybody should marry as soon as they can do it to advantage,” but Mansfield Park is more than this. Unsurprisingly with Austen, the main narrative is driven by a marriage plot, the young women of the novel seeking a suitable mate who might care for them financially as much as emotionally. Nevertheless, attachments have been formed and Fanny can only look on as trysts are made and broken, her heart all the time longing for Edmund and hoping that his head will not be turned by more vivacious alternatives. However, when Sir Thomas arrives home unexpectedly he does not at all approve of the scheme and clears his house of all traces of the play, including many of the young people who have petitioned for it. Even Edmund, after voicing grave doubts, is persuaded to join in with the play. Preparations for the play allow for all manner of flirtations, and romantic attachments are unsurprisingly provoked. They contrive to put on a salacious play, Lovers’ Vows and only Fanny refuses to take part, fearing that her absent uncle, Sir Thomas, would not approve of the endeavour. During this period, siblings Henry and Mary Crawford, shallow but captivating friends of the Bertrams from town, arrive to stay. Norris – a satirically snobbish matriarch. As Fanny reaches maturity, Sir Thomas finds that his concerns in the West Indies are failing to yield the expected profits, and so travels to Antigua to set things straight, leaving Mansfield Park in the hands of Mrs.

In return, she harbours a secret and steadfast love for her cousin. It is only Edmund that spends time with her as she grows into a quietly moral young woman. She is kept apart from her cousins both psychically and physically, her place in the household underlined at every opportunity. Brought to Mansfield Park at the age of ten to live amongst wealthy relatives, young Fanny is brought up in the home of Sir Thomas Bertram, alongside his children: Maria, Julia, and Edmund. Central to these difficulties is Fanny Price, the rather frail and moralistic heroine of the novel. Mansfield Park (1814) is perhaps the least popular of Jane Austen’s novels, at the very least it is the novel that has caused critics and readers the most problems.

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