Mansfield Park? Who gives a Fanny? (Mansfield Park - Jane Austen)

Name: tinkerbella21

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Product:	Mansfield Park - Jane Austen
Date:	28/05/08 (19 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very few!

Disadvantages: Too long and drawn out

I, like many other young people have only read this Jane Austen novel as part of A-level studies. I love reading and am able to read anything from James Herbert to Shakespeare, so Jane Austen has never phased me at all.

My main character, a female as in most of Jane Austen novels, is called Fanny Price and comes from a poor family so is sent to live with rich relatives on the estate of Mansfield Park.

Fanny is portrayed as a very sickly person who often begins to feel tired and faint if outside for too long! Not at all what we would see from usual Heroine type characters. She isn't strong willed or broad minded but quite the opposite. She sinks into the background and observes her cousins and friends.

I found that Austen spent pages and pages describing surroundings, gardens and the weather which can be fine to set the scene but dose go on for far too long and becomes very boring to read. I often found myself scan reading the pages just to get through it.

There are a few twists to the tale that is suppose back when it was written may of shocked the reader and perhaps because of that reason Jane Austen only spent a few paragraphs on these issues.

Throughout the story it becomes obvious that Fanny is quite in love with one of her cousins but being a typical prudent English female does nothing about this and awaits for him to hopefully make a move.

This is quite a hard novel to read as not much actually happens throughout and i was quite relieved for it to come to an end. This is probably not one of Austens better novels.

Summary: Would appeal to Jane Austen fans?