Product Description

First published in 1814, this is a study of three families - the Bertrams, the Crawfords and the Prices - in which Jane Austen uses the unlikely heroine, Fanny Price, to explore the social and moral values by which these families' lives are ordered.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #333019 in Books
• Published on: 1992-03-19
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 512 pages

Customer Reviews

An excellent novel about love and virtue
19th century, the golden age of British literature, gave us a variety of talented authors including great female names. Jane Austen is one of them. Unfortunately her novels are not very popular nowadays. They don't possess demonic passions of Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte), drama of Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte), tragedy of Ruth (Elizabeth Gaskell). Well, they have other advantages. Success of modern screen-versions of Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Emma convince me that people still can enjoy Austen's stories, but they are not accustomed to calm and serious reading. Mansfield Park is may be the best novel by the author. It is mature, powerful and realistic. Fanny Price grows up as poor relative in the rich family of Bertrams. She suffers not from bad treatment, but from uncertainty of her position, neglect, lack of self-assurance and shyness. There are four children in the family, all of them elder than Fanny: light-headed Tom, serious Edmund, handsome Maria and Julia. Fanny loves Edmund secretly but he regards her as a sister. As new neighbors Crawfords appear the story becomes more animated and intriguing. Edmund fells in love with beautiful and brilliant Mary Crawford and she doesn't mind marrying him, her brother Henry flirts with all women, but then estimates modest and noble Fanny and pursue her, Maria, though a married woman, is obsessed with seductive Henry... The author teaches us to understand true people's self and not be deceived by their appearance and attitude. I enjoy Austen's style of writing. It is witty and lightly critical. There are a few of really satiric images such as Mrs. Norrice. The author in her expressions never breaks limits of old-fashion conversations in ladies drawing rooms but we can find a lot of clever hints to guess more than is said. The book is really fine. Have patience to start reading it carefully and you will enjoy.

worthy but dull
I read this book almost 20 years ago for my A level English. Throughout my studies my English teacher informed the class that this was a hilarious comedy of manners. I found nothing at all amusing.

The heroine of the book is incredibly upright, annoyingly so, while her realtives are protrayed as being impolite and outlandish. There is one scene where Austen is most disapporving because the family take part in a play. I was told that this would have been scandalous at the time, maybe so, but today we see nothing wrong with it.

Where the heroine is supposed to be the epitome of rectitude she in fact just comes across as a moralising prig.

This book along with Thomas Hardy's "Return of the Native" put me off reading fiction for almost ten years as both were apparently works of genius when in fact I dound this book dull in the extrme and, well don't get me started on Hardy.

Anyway if you like TV programmes like "To the Manor Born" and similarly trite comedies of manners then you will probably love this. If however you prefer something with life avoid it like the plague.

So why the second star if I hated it so much? I will write Austen obviously had talent and that does come across in this book it's just that the characterisation and plot are so reprehesible and weak.