Jane Austen: Mansfield Park
12/13/2020
Mansfield Park is an 1814 novel by Jane Austen, the third published during her lifetime.
It's protagonist is Fanny Price, sent at ten years old to live with her aunt at Mansfield Park, where she is a literal poor relation among the fashionable younger set. She ultimately asserts herself by rejecting an unsuitable proposal, and marrying Edmund Bertram, the younger son of the master of the estate, who is destined to be a clergyman.
A number of themes have contributed to Mansfield Park's reputation as perhaps Austen's most controversial novel. Her portrait of Fanny has divided critics, though it is significant as an early treatment of the inner life of a young girl. Edmund's attachment to his religous vocation is often seen as reflecting Austen's critique of the French Revolution, and the role of the Bertrams in the Caribbean slave trade has sparked debate about Austen's own enigmatic views on the subject.
Mansfield Park at online book stores
Amazon | bookshop.org (US) | bookshop.org (UK)
Free online texts
Gutenberg: Mansfield Park. EPUB, HTML, MOBI and TXT formats.
Internet Archive: Mansfield Park. 1892 Athenaeum edition. EPUB, MOBI, PDF and TXT formats.
Standard Ebooks: Mansfield Park. AZW3, EPUB, KEPUB and Advanced EPUB formats.
University of Adelaide (Internet Archive): Mansfield Park. EPUB, HTML and MOBI format.
Wikisource: Mansfield Park. HTML and other formats.
Other Resources
Librivox: Mansfield Park - public domain audiobook. Multiple readings available.
Wikipedia: Jane Austen - Mansfield Park
Further reading
Bloom's Western Canon: Mansfield Park is listed.
August Von Kotzebue: Das Kind der Liebe - A play staged by the characters in the novel.
Rousseau: Emile, or on Education - The character of Fanny Price has been as a response to Rousseau's Sophie.
Edmund Burke: Reflections on the Revolution in France - Critics have debated the extent to which Burke's use of the country house as a metaphor for the nation influenced Austen.
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