Oh, so much better than the film... (Mansfield Park - Jane Austen)

Member Name: chickpea

Product:	Mansfield Park - Jane Austen
Date:	25/07/00 (41 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A witty, moral masterpiece

Disadvantages: Possibly difficult to get into/ May seem boring upon first reading

If you were to see the film released not so long ago, and then read the book, you might be forgiven for thinking the book a little lacking in action. And you'd be right, because it is. And this is where the film goes oh so wrong. Jane Austen herself named Mansfield Park as one of her greatest works, and yet it still lurks in the shadows of those more frivolous works such as Emma and Pride and Prejudice. Don't get me wrong - these are fantastic novels. My point is only that Mansfield Park equals them, and so deserves it's own share of praise.

The story centers around a girl called Fanny Price. Her mother ran off with a sailor and her rich family disowned her. When they regain contact the rich relatives, the Bertrams of Mansfield Park, offer to foster their daughter Fanny. Fanny grows up bullied and belittled by all of the family, conciously or unconciously, except her cousin Edward, with whom she falls in love. Despite the impression that might be gathered from the film, she is not a wild, fiery tempered young thing straining under the chains imposed upon her by the Bertrams, fuming with anger at her subservient status and lack of recognition. She is, by her very nature, mild tempered, conservative, sensible and sensitive, and as willing to be grateful as everyone around her is to make her so. She is quiet, rather prudish, of no particular beauty and of no particular note. She is probably Jane Austen's most plain heroine, but that just means that it is more difficult to see her worth, not that she has none.

Mansfield Park is much more than a tale of love and tragedy in a small country environment (the classic Austen template). The main theme of the novel, in my opinion, is the battle of good against evil: Fanny and Edward against the Crawfords, with the other characters in between. What makes this a masterpiece is that it is not this simple. The characters are so beautifully portrayed that the reader continually sees n
ew sides of the characters - no one is straightforwardly good or nice, and no one is completely evil, either.

This is a tale of human beings, and human failings. When I first read it I thought it was actually quite boring. But with a little closer attention it can be seen to carry all the hallmark qualities of Austen's work, including her subtle, clever, and above all entertaining style - a fact which unfortunately manages to pass most people by.

A word of advice: this is not Pride and Prejudice, nor is it Mills and Boon - read it slowly and appreciate it more.

PS. If you like the book then watching the film is certain to inflict much pain on the sensitive human being.

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