Mansfield Park

Author: Austen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: Like the author's other novels, this book focuses on the love and marriage of young men and women. The heroine, Fanny, is a poor girl who was adopted by her aunt and uncle, Sir and Lady Bertram, at the age of 10. At their house, apart from her cousin Edmund who always cared for her, she was neglected by everyone and lived a life of dependence. However, she always had a gentle and kind heart, discerning right from wrong and understanding the bigger picture. She firmly resisted the attempt by her older cousin and others to stage a play with inappropriate content at home. She remained steadfast in resisting the unreasonable of the profligate Crawford, and unwaveringly loved Edmund, especially when Miss Crawford "rekindled her old feelings" for him. She warned her cousin not to be deceived by her pretense in the end. Her noble character won the respect of Sir Bertram and the love of Edmund, and the novel ends with Fanny and Edmund's happy marriage. Mansfield Park is a long novel that represents Austen's most mature thoughts and most modern characters. The work emphasizes the importance of traditional virtues, and is a labor of love that is heavy in tone, profound in meaning, and meticulously crafted. It is one of Austen's immortal masterpieces, alongside Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Sense and Sensibility. Austen is one of the few renowned female writers in the history of world literature, known as a "miniature painter" and "domestic novelist" who straddled the lyricalism of the neoclassical and romantic movements. She is considered by literary critics to be a British writer comparable to Shakespeare in terms of immortality. She was praised by the British writer Somerset Maugham as a "truly great literary work." Like the author's other novels, this book focuses on the love and marriage of young men and women, with a more complex plot, more concentrated sudden events, and a deeper sense of social satire. The novel ends with Fanny and Edmund's happy marriage, but throughout the story, the author's satirical pen primarily targets the English upper class, represented by wealthy families, revealing their artificiality.