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A review by squid_vicious
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
4.0
After a frustrating and badly-written historical novel, I needed a serious dose of enjoyable and soothing quality writing: I had been meaning to re-read "Mansfield Park" for some time and it was just what the doctor ordered; after merely twenty pages, I was already smiling from ear to ear. As I enjoyed the witty prose and complicated characters, I found myself wondering why this lovely book is as underrated as it is. I love my Austen novels, but one thing I noticed about them was that with a little bit of time, they all revealed themselves to be a lot more deep and clever than I had originally given them credit for. Fanny certainly wasn't my favorite when I first read this book, but now I'll take her over Emma "Bird Brain" Woodhouse any day. Just like "Persuasion", "Mansfield Park" is a grown-up Austen novel that I feel can be better appreciated after life has knocked you around a little.
"Mansfield Park" has a lot to say about morals, but more specifically about thoughtfulness and empathy, with Fanny being the only character who doesn't suffer from terminal narcissism. I have to wonder if the people who hate this book dislike it because they recognize themselves in one of the Bertrams or Crawfords and feel uncomfortable about it. It can be hard for some people to root for the introvert, but I have grown to appreciate her: she was never shown how to let her colors shine, and if she is meek, it really is because she has been dismissed over and over again but her aunts and cousins. It is hard to feel like you have any value when the people who are supposed to encourage you make you feel like garbage.
If there is anything I loathe in "Mansfield Park", it's the Bertrams' and Aunt Norris' complete lack of family values. Empathy and kindness seems alien to those people, and between Lady Bertram's indolent negligence and Mrs. Norris' penny-pinching, it's no wonder Maria and Julia would be insensitive and oblivious of the consequences of their actions. But as usual with Austen, even the worse characters cannot be completely evil: she gives her readers a detailed portrait of where their behavior comes from, and while she doesn't necessarily want you to forgive them, she nevertheless encourages compassion for them. As she puts it herself, their characters are their own punishments, at the end of the story.
A charming, quiet classic that gets better with time.
"Mansfield Park" has a lot to say about morals, but more specifically about thoughtfulness and empathy, with Fanny being the only character who doesn't suffer from terminal narcissism. I have to wonder if the people who hate this book dislike it because they recognize themselves in one of the Bertrams or Crawfords and feel uncomfortable about it. It can be hard for some people to root for the introvert, but I have grown to appreciate her: she was never shown how to let her colors shine, and if she is meek, it really is because she has been dismissed over and over again but her aunts and cousins. It is hard to feel like you have any value when the people who are supposed to encourage you make you feel like garbage.
If there is anything I loathe in "Mansfield Park", it's the Bertrams' and Aunt Norris' complete lack of family values. Empathy and kindness seems alien to those people, and between Lady Bertram's indolent negligence and Mrs. Norris' penny-pinching, it's no wonder Maria and Julia would be insensitive and oblivious of the consequences of their actions. But as usual with Austen, even the worse characters cannot be completely evil: she gives her readers a detailed portrait of where their behavior comes from, and while she doesn't necessarily want you to forgive them, she nevertheless encourages compassion for them. As she puts it herself, their characters are their own punishments, at the end of the story.
A charming, quiet classic that gets better with time.