Mansfield Park

As has happened with many of history’s greatest writers, Jane Austen (16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) did not earn the credit she was due until well after her death. Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, has earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature over the last 150 years. 

Austen’s romantic fiction was an interesting genre that belied the fact her writing was laden with realism and a scathing critique on society and the role women played in it during her life. Austen tried several different types of literary styles before settling on writing novels from 1811-1817, releasing Sense and Sensibility (1811), her most famous work, Pride and Prejudice (1813), and Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1816). The novels highlighted the dependence of women on marrying high to reach a better social status and financial security, and Austen achieved some success from these works in her life.  

Mansfield Park is considered Austen’s most controversial novel. The main character, Fanny Price, is a young girl from a relatively poor family, raised by her rich uncle and aunt, Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram, at Mansfield Park. She grows up with her four cousins, Tom Bertram, Edmund Bertram, Maria Bertram and Julia, but is always treated as inferior to them; only Edmund shows his real kindness. He is also the most virtuous of the siblings: Maria and Julia are vain and spoiled, while Tom is an irresponsible gambler. Over time, Fanny's gratitude for Edmund's kindness secretly grows into romantic love.

Critics praised the novel's wholesome morality, but today’s readers often criticize Fanny’s character and find her one of their least favorite protagonists in Austen’s novels. Austen's own mother described Fanny as "insipid." Nevertheless, the story contains much social satire and is perhaps the most socially realistic Austen novel, with Fanny's family of origin, the Prices, coming from a much lower echelon of society than most Austen characters. 

This edition of Mansfield Park is specially formatted with a Table of Contents and images of Austen.