Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

Before you read this novel, let us tell you that our heroine is nothing like Jane Austen’s Emma from Emma or Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice. Fanny Price’s character will grow on you slowly, but that’s not what you’d like about this best fiction book of all time. 

Get the unabridged version of the book at the Booksophile rare bookstore website. 

Mansfield Park sheds light on several social issues from the 19th century, and that’s why Jane Austen had to tone down the character portrayal of Fanny Price. Had our protagonist been as vivacious as Elizabeth or as hilarious as Emma, Austen couldn’t have explicitly addressed the issues. 

The novel was first published in the year 1814. It narrates the story of Fanny Price, an orphan fostered by her rich aunt and uncle at Mansfield Park. 

As she grows up from a poor sailor’s daughter to a ward of Mansfield Park’s Bertram’s Estate, she is mystified by the societal culture and norms of the time, such as class, marriage, money, morality, inheritance, and manners. With Mansfield Park’s relatives’ unabashed criticism and bullying, she is intrigued by how people change from when they’re poor to when they become rich. 

You will find Fanny boring, meek, and uninteresting, but that’s how most women were back then. It shows her struggle to survive a society that generally stampedes people like her. 

One of the book's bold elements is how Jane Austen displays society's pressures to oblige to its expectations, and the consequences if someone fails to. While Fanny tries to conform to her rich aunt and uncle’s expectations, she discovers her own voice, values, and beliefs in the process. 

And because of Fanny’s grounded nature, kindness, and unwavering principles, characters like Henry Crawford, Sir Thomas, and even Edmund, who faltered due to temptation, changed their views and behaviors.

Historical fiction books like Mansfield Park (historical because we are already in the 21st century) require patience to understand Fanny’s cautious nature. It is unpredictable and nuanced. While Mansfield Park is not one of the bestsellers fiction books of Jane Austen, like Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, it is complicated and courageous. 

The substance of the novel is layered beautifully in the surroundings of Fanny Price’s life, which is a stark and shocking contrast to her simple character and her superior understanding of people’s feelings. And that, readers, is exactly what makes her a Jane Austen heroine. 

To end, Jane Austen is an expert in satirizing the narrow mindset of society that believes that marriage is the ‘ultimate achievement’ for young ladies, as it is associated with good fortune and a position in society. 

It is a must-read by Jane Austen’s fans who can easily understand the humor and sarcasm behind her words and for those who are interested in exploring Bestsellers and fiction books from the 19th century. 

And if you want to read this book, you can buy it from Booksophile, one of the best-selling websites for historical fiction books and online law books.