Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

3.5 stars

The young heroine in this novel is Fanny Price, daughter from a poor family sent to live with her aunt and uncle in Mansfield Park. Fanny realizes how she feels for her cousin Edmund, when Mary Crawford falls in love with him and he with her. As with other Austen novels, this one ends with a happy ending but not before the heroine watches her true love fall in love with someone else and is pursued by Henry Crawford who professes his love to Fanny and then ends up running off with her cousin. My favorite character in the book is Mrs. Norris, Fanny's other aunt who is widowed and also lives in Mansfield. She's the character you love to hate. From the beginning of the book, she takes the stance as the know it all who suggests to her sister and her husband that they take in Fanny to her help their poor sister. Only problem is, she doesn't want to do any of the actual work. Throughout the book she is very helpful by arranging a the failed marriage between Maria and Mr. Rushworth, and being supportive of the play that enrages Sir Thomas when he gets home. She's incredibly selfish and tries unsuccessfully to disguise it as being helpful and wise. She reminds me a little bit of the step mom in Wives and Daughters.

What I found interesting in this book was how formal things were. The Bertrams would refer to the father as Sir Thomas instead of "husband", "father" or "uncle". It was very confusing at first (I was listening to this on audio) when the Crawfords came and they referred to Mary Crawford as Mary, Mary Crawford or Miss Crawford. I thought they were two different people for a while. I also thought it very silly that they made such a moral debate out of doing a private play among friends. I guess it was the fact that Maria and Henry would be play acting as lovers all the while in love with each other at the same time as Maria being engaged to Mr. Rushworth. The ending seemed to try and satisfy the reader by making all the bad characters suffer. Maria and Mrs. Norris eventually being sent out of the country to live with each other in misery.

This book seemed to go on forever!