Category: Mansfield Park

Chapter 1

Characters

• Mrs. Price

Mrs. Price is Fanny Price’s mother and has 9 children. Her family is not very rich, so she decides to send Fanny to live with the Bertrams.

• Mrs. Norris

Mrs. Norris is Fanny’s aunt, and is very dramatic, self-righteous, and does not like Fanny, as she keeps saying that she is different from the Bertrams, and is lowly.

• Sir Thomas Bertram

Thomas Bertram is Fanny’s uncle and is a very rich man. He wants what is best for Fanny.

• Lady Bertram

Lady Bertram is Fanny’s aunt and the sister of Mrs. Price and Mrs. Norris.

• Fanny Price

She is the Protagonist of the story, and one of the children of the Price family.

Summary

There are three sisters in the story, Lady Bertram, and Mrs. Price have children. One of the sisters had the “good luck” to marry Sir Thomas, and successfully marries him, becoming Lady Bertram. Mrs. Price married a lieutenant, and the other two sisters became angry and cut contact with her for 11 years. After 11 years, Mrs. Price wrote a letter to Lady Bertram, worrying about her children. The letter establishes a connection with the sisters, and Lady Bertram helps Mrs. Price. Mrs. Norris decides that someone should take care of Fanny Price and ease Mrs. Price a little bit. However, Sir Thomas approaches this problem very carefully and doesn’t agree or disagree to take Fanny in easily. Mrs. Norris tells Sir Thomas that Fanny should be distinguished and should not be considered a lady Bertram. After going back and forth, Sir Thomas finally agrees. The next day, Mrs. Norris sends a letter to Mrs. Price, saying they will take Fanny in, as a servant. Mrs. Price agrees and hopes that her child will benefit from the change of environment.

How it made me feel

Mrs. Price losing her dignity over marrying a poor person made me upset because she only did this because of true love, not because of money or fame. Fanny, getting sent to the Bertram family because Mrs. Price couldn’t afford her expenses made me pity her because she has to get separated from her family simply because of financial problems, But I felt joy because now she has more chances than before. It was irritating and frustrating that Mrs. Norris kept reminding Sir Thomas that Fanny is a “lower class” person, and should be treated differently from the other Bertram children.

Chapter 2

Characters

• Edmund Bertram

Edmund Bertram is the son of Sir Thomas Bertram, and Fanny’s cousin, and is very nice to Fanny, and Fanny likes him.

• Tom Bertram

Tom Bertram is the son of Sir Thomas Bertram and Fanny’s cousin, and he is very rich.

• Julia Bertram

Julia Bertram is the son of Sir Thomas Bertram and Fanny’s cousin, and she is very well-mannered and good-looking.

• Maria Bertram

Maria Bertram is the son of Sir Thomas Bertram, and Fanny’s cousin, and she is well mannered as well, and good-looking.

• William Price

William Price is the Son of Mrs. Price, and Fanny’s brother, and now a sailor, thanks to Sir Thomas.

Summary

Fanny Travels safely to Mansfield Park. Fanny is described as a fragile, shy ten-year-old with a sweet voice. Sir Thomas tries to make her feel comfortable but fails. Fanny then meets the Bertram children, Edmund, Tom, Maria, and Julia. Maria and Julia’s good manners and good looked very different and polite than Fanny. Fanny, who is uncomfortable and frightened, avoids eye contact. Mrs. Norris scolds Fanny for being ungrateful, which makes Fanny even more uncomfortable, and guilty. She then begins to cry and she is taken to her bed. Later, Mrs. Norris complained that Fanny was rude, and thought her sadness was excessive. That day, Julia and Maria are surprised by Fanny’s lack of knowledge of French, and the little number of clothes she has. Fanny feels unwelcome because of the servants, who make critical comments on her manners and looks. After a week of Fanny’s discomfort, Edmund finds her crying on the stairs. Edmund tries his best to make her comfortable. Edmund understands that it will be very challenging for him to make her feel comfortable. But, he succeeds and Fanny begins to feel more comfortable. She starts to play with Maria and Julia, Edmund doesn’t stop being nice to her, and Tom brings her presents. Sir Thomas and Mrs. Norris are now thinking of adopting her, but Fanny’s lack of knowledge is somewhat difficult, and Mrs. Norris explains to Maria and Julia that she is not as smart as they are. Sir Thomas finds a job for William Price, but his new job worries Fanny. William tells Fanny sailing stories and eases her mind. Because of Edmund’s affection towards her, Fanny begins to like her.

How it made me feel

Edmund being nice to Fanny gave me a glimmer of hope for Fanny because up until now, she was treated like a random stranger, not a part of the family. Sir Thomas now thinking of adopting her made me feel happy for her because now it is guaranteed that she will live a better life. But, before Edmund stepped in, I was really upset for her, because she was constantly crying, and feeling anxious.

Chapter 3

Summary

After Mr. Norris died, Mrs. Norris moves into a smaller house, and her income lowers. Dr. Grant takes his place. Though Edmund was supposed to inherit his wealth, he uses it to pay Tom’s debt from gambling. Sir Thomas thinks that Mrs. Norris would take Fanny in because she would want company. When Fanny learns this, she is distressed, but Edmund eases her. But, Mrs. Norris refuses to do so. Mrs. Norris moves into the white house, and the Grants move into the parsonage. Sir Thomas and Tom then leave, going to England. Though Sir Thomas was sad to leave, Lady Bertram, Maria, Julia, and Fanny were pleased.

How it made me feel

I felt bad for Edmund because he used his inheritance to pay his stupid brother’s debt. Tom not feeling bad for him that much made me angry too. Sir Thomas feeling sad to leave made me sad too. When I learned that even Fanny was pleased when he was gone made me even sadder. They almost didn’t care.

Chapter 4

Summary

Surprisingly, not many changes while Sir Thomas was gone. Edmund takes care of Mansfield. Mrs. Norris hopes to tell them Sir Thomas and Tom had an accident and to be the center of all attention. But, the family hears the news they got there safely, and Mrs. Norris was disappointed. Winter passes. Unfortunately, Fanny’s beloved pony dies in spring, leaving Fanny sick due to a lack of exercise. When Edmund returns, he wants to buy her a horse, but Mrs. Norris tells him it would make Fanny similar to Julia and Maria’s position in the house. Edmund rejects all of Mrs. Norris’ reasons and buys her a horse. She was very excited and was touched by his kindness. Tom comes back because Sir Thomas had to stay in Antigua longer. Mrs. Norris hopes that Maria would marry someone. Luckily, Mr. Rushworth, a rich man takes an interest in Maria, and Mrs. Norris approves of the match. She then tries to increase the chances of them marrying. Mrs. Norris eventually becomes friends with Mr. Rushworth’s mother. After dancing, Maria and Mrs. Rushworth becomes fixed on the engagement. Edmund thought that Maria wanted Mr. Rushworth because of his wealth, not love. Sir Thomas also approves of the match and asks her to wait until he returns, so that he can watch the wedding. In July, Henry and Mary come to stay with Mrs. Grant. She was happy because she didn’t have a child.

Chapter 5

Summary

When the Bertrams and Crawfords meet each other for the first time, they like each other. Henry wins Maria and Julia’s love. But, Maria felt conflicted because she was engaged with Mr. Rushworth. Mary and Henry considers relationships with the Bertrams. Henry tells that he considers Maria, and Mary takes interest in Tom, due to his position in his Family. Mary didn’t understand why Fanny didn’t take interest in Henry.

How it made me feel

Chapter 6

Summary

Tom leaves Mansfield. Mr. Rushworth comes to Mansfield for the first time. Mrs. Norris praises his wealth and talks about the apricot tree she planted in the Parsonage. Dr. Grant tells her that the fruits are bad, which offends her. Dr. Grant acts quickly and tells her he hadn’t tried that much. Fanny hopes to see Sotherton when Mr. Rushworth tells them he would make improvements. Mary learns Edmund is polite. Edmund learns she doesn’t like her uncle. When Edmund learns that Mary plays harp, he expresses his wish to hear her play. They then talk with each other. Meanwhile, in the party, they ask Henry for his opinions, because he has experience. Mrs. Norris suggests they all go to Sotherton.

How it made me feel

Chapter 7

Summary

Edmund asks Fanny what she thought about Mary. They share their opinions. When Mary’s harp arrives, they go to the parsonage daily to hear her play. Edmund begins to love Mary, and this hurts Fanny. Especially, when the Grants, Henry, and Edmund watched Mary ride the horse Edmund got her. When Fanny comes to Mary, she apologizes, and Mary gets off the horse. That night, Edmund asks Fanny if she would like to ride with them tomorrow. Fanny refuses. For 4 days, they go out to ride horses. Edmund and Julia are invited for dinner, but Maria was not invited. This was because Mr. Rushworth had to pay her a visit. She was angry that she didn’t even get the invitation, and got even more frustrated when Mr. Rushworth didn’t come. Fanny had a headache and was lying on a sofa. Mrs. Norris scolds her for not doing work. Edmund becomes angry at Mrs. Norris when he learns that Fanny has been doing too much work. Edmund was annoyed at Lady Bertram, Mrs. Norris, and himself for not giving her attention. Edmund promises himself that it would never happen again.

How it made me feel

Chapter 8

Summary

The next day Fanny begins to ride her horse. While she was out, Mr. Rushworth comes to Mansfield to plan a visit to Sotherton. Mary and Mrs. Grant arrive at Mansfield. They learn about the trip to Sotherton. Lady Bertram refuses to come, but Mrs. Rushworth keeps trying. After a while, Mrs. Norris tells her that Lady Bertram would be too tired to travel that far. Mrs. Rushworth stops trying. Mary was invited, and she comes with them. Edmund makes an offer that since there was enough space in Henry’s carriage, they should take Fanny with them. Lady Bertram tells him that she would allow it, but she needs Fanny’s company. But, Edmund offers to stay with Lady Bertram, in order to let Fanny go. Finally, after Mrs. Norris’ disagreement, Fanny was decided to go. Then, Mrs. Grant decides to stay with Lady Bertram. On their trip to Sotherton, Maria and Henry start to get romantic. Julia gets jealous. Maria had forgotten her engagement with Mr. Rushworth.

How it made me feel

Chapter 9

Summary

They head to the house, after discussing about the improvements they can make while eating their meal. Fanny was delighted and excited. They then enter the chapel. Mary starts to disapprove of religion and says that it is boring. Fanny was furious, but she gets eased by Edmund. When Mary learns that Edmund was going to become a clergyman after saying such things about religion, she was shocked and apologizes. Mary, Edmund, and Fanny then discuss about Edmund’s choice to become a clergyman, while walking in the woods. Mary wishes that Edmund would not become a clergyman, because it is a very simple job. Edmund disagrees and Fanny sides with him. Fanny starts to get tired and asks to rest for a little. When Mary insists to walk more. Edmund tells Fanny should rest a little more, so he walks off to the iron gate with Mary, leaving Fanny.

How it made me feel

Chapter 10

Summary

Because she was left for so long, Mr. Rushworth, Mary, and Henry bump into her. Fanny explains why she was left behind, and they all sit down. They decide to go to a mound because it was pretty close, but Mr. Rushworth goes back because he had forgotten the key to the iron gate. Maria and Henry discuss about Him and Julia back in the carriage. Silence begins to fill in. Henry suggests jumping over the fence, and Maria agrees. Fanny disagrees, but they leave while she was expressing her opinion. Julia then comes and asks her where Henry and Maria are. She explains what happened, and Julia decides to catch up with them. Julia leaves, because she has “had enough” of the Rushworth’s. Then, Mr. Rushworth comes to her and asks what happened to everybody. She explains, and he was upset. He decides to not go to the mound. Mr. Rushworth asks her if she likes Henry, and Fanny tells him she does not like Henry, and Mr. Rushworth agrees. When Fanny finds Mary and Edmund, they were laughing joyfully, and Fanny was hurt. They go back to the house, to wait for the rest of the group. After they regroup, they have dinner, and the Bertrams leave. On their way back, Mrs. Norris talks about all the presents she got. Then, the carriage was quiet.

By writing Mansfield park to be a real-life foil to Elizabeth Inchbald’s interpretation of August Von Kotzebue’s Lovers’ Vows, Jane Austen re-inverts Kotzebue’s subversive moral standard and creates a work positing equal moral conscience. Austen’s resulting text is a novel that, although separate in its stories and characters, also upholds distinct parallels to “Lover’s Vows” in the structure and situations of the plot and subplot. For the sake of this essay, I will follow Kotzebue’s narrative scheme which is reversed in “Mansfield Park.”

To begin, I will first outline the distinct parallels in the characterization of the two texts: Maria and Julia Bertram represent Austen’s conception of a potential Agatha; Amelia has been transformed into Mary Crawford and her opposite, Fanny Price; Count Cassel appears as Mr. Rushworth, as well as Henry Crawford; Sir Thomas Bertram’s afflictions and station align him with Baron Wildenhaim; Edmund, a young and pious clergymen, acts as Austen’s Anhalt. Just as Austen borrowed from Kotzebue in her characterization of Mansfield Park’s characters, she also developed a plot that, while not completely identical, reflects many of the same situations and moral lessons as “Lovers Vows;”

Plot:

Agatha Friburg, the virtuous, abandoned mistress of Baron Wildenhaim, is living a wretched existence in great misery and poverty. When the Baron later promises to marry Agatha, she is raised from her wretched lot to happiness, respectability, and prosperity. Subplot:

Maria Bertram is born into happiness, respectability, and prosperity but is proud, selfish, undisciplined, and passionate. When she leaves her loveless marriage, she forces Henry to make her his mistress. When he refuses to marry her, she is abandoned and drags out the remainder of her wretched existence in great misery.

Subplot:

Baron Wildenhaim is torn between worldly and unworldly motives in considering Count Cassel a fop and a fool, but an excellent match, and suitor for the hand of his legitimate daughter Amelia.

Subplot: Subplot:

Sir Thomas Bertram is torn between worldly and unworldly motives in considering Mr. Rushworth “a fop and a fool, but an excellent match, and prospective husband for his eldest daughter Maria.

Sir Thomas is similarly conflicted about Henry’s proposal to Fanny.

Plot:

Wildenheim, oblivious to Cassel’s real character, asks Anhalt, a young clergyman, to plead Count Cassel’s case. Although Amelia and Anhalt are in love, because she is above him in social station, Anhalt does not consider marriage. Once Wildenheim discovers Cassel’s libertinage, Amelia is freed from their engagement. Wildenhaim brings himself to overlook Anhalt’s humble station and welcome him as a son-in-law for the sake of his moral worth. Sir Thomas, oblivious to Henry’s real character, tries to force Fanny to accept his proposal. He then asks his son Edmund, a young clergyman, to plead Henry’s case. But Meanwhile, Edmund is infatuated with Mary Crawford who considers Edmund her social inferior. When Sir Thomas discovers of Henry’s libertinage, Fanny is freed from his pursuit. Eyes now opened to Mary’s true character; Edmund loves Fanny at last. Sir Thomas then brings himself to overlook her humble station and to welcome her as a daughter in-law for the sake of her moral worth.

As Jane Austen alters the moral standards of the situations that she assumes, each undergoes the same change from a strict archetypal treatment towards a complex reality. For instance, the adjustment of the ethical values required a complete change in Agatha/Maria, along with the fortune which befell her. Austen’s entire moral philosophy dictates that virtuous women do not fall. By extension, women who lose their virtue must not expect to be rehabilitated. Austen maintains a parallel in their situations after the sin has been committed. However, while Agatha’s downfall is pictured at the beginning of the play, Maria’s is at the end of the novel.

Lovers’ Vows Mansfield Park

“Agatha: …As soon as my situation became known, I was questioned, and received many severed reproaches: but I refused to confess who was my undoer; and for that obstinacy was turned from the castle. I went to my parents, but their door was shut against me. My mother, indeed, wept as she bade me quit her sight for ever; but my father wished increased affliction might befall me (pp.487)” “…She must withdraw…to a retirement and reproach, which could allow no second spring of hope of character… Mrs. Norris… would have had her received at home and countenanced by them all. Sir Thomas would not hear of it… Maria had destroyed her own character. And he would not by a vain attempt to restore what never could be restored, be affording his sanction to vice… (pp. 464).”

Likewise, Sir Thomas/Baron Wildenheim find themselves in positions to favor a loveless match for the sake of worldly advantages. In the case of Sir Thomas, he is so-tempted twice. Count Cassel is not unlike Henry, and a daughter’s happiness is at stake in both cases.

Lovers’ Vows Mansfield Park

Baron: “…and am I after all to have an ape for a son-in-law? No. I shall not be in a hurry. I love my daughter too well. We must be better acquainted before I give her to him…The poor girl might, in thoughtlessness, say yes, and afterwards be miserable” (p.493 f) “Not all his good-will for Mr. Rushworth, not all Mr. Rushworth’s deference for him, could prevent him from soon discerning some part of the truth—that Mr. Rushworth was an inferior young man… He had expected a very different son-in-law; and beginning to feel grave on Maria’s account, tried to understand her feelings.… Advantageous as would be the alliance, and long standing and public as was the engagement, her happiness must not be sacrificed to it. (p.200)

The parallel here is close, the true difference between the situations lay solely within the weight of parental conscience. While Maria is undoubtedly more at fault for the end of her marriage, Sir Thomas nevertheless takes on a great deal of guilt for having allowed the marriage to take place. In contrast, Wildenhaim remains guiltless. Austen has turned a thoroughly conventional conflict into a painfully interesting one. At the same time, she showcases her interpretation of a “well-made-match;” the couple must be both fiscally and romantically ideal. By punishing Maria for her indiscretions which arguably began at her acceptance of Mr. Rushworth’s proposal of a would-be loveless marriage, Austen showcases the dire consequences for stepping outside of her world’s moral standard.

The parallel between the two texts is even more distinct when considering Henry’s proposal to Fanny. Both Mansfield Park and Lovers’ Vow include a young clergyman’s place within their respective, “main” love triangles; “[Anhalt] came to me by your command,’ Amelia…informs Wildenhaim, ‘to examine my heart respecting Count Cassel. I told him that I would never marry the Count.” Fanny could have used Amelia’s words verbatim to Sir Thomas about Edmund and Henry. However, while Anhalt is already devoted to Amelia, Fanny is forced to listen to the man she loves, knowing his affections for Mary Crawford, urge her to marry another. In contrast to Amelia, Fanny keeps her affections for Edmund a secret; she is the very picture of a modest woman. Despite Amelia and Fanny’s deviance in action, the two girls reap the same reward. In both cases Cassel and Crawford are revealed, and the clergyman wins the bride—Thus the invention of Mary.

Mary is charged with shouldering Amelia’s distinct lack of modesty. She, like Amelia, claims no disinclination to the married state, in fact she greatly encourages Edmund’s advances in the same way that Amelia tactlessly announces her love for Anhalt to the world. Unlike Amelia, however, she considers Edmund’s profession a serious drawback—not only a physical manifestation of her assumed superficiality, but an expression of Kotzebue’s patronizing views on the social status of the clergy. Where Austen aligns Mary with Amelia, she frames Fanny as a living antithesis and reproach to her prototype in the play, thereby reinforcing her moral standard: Women who are virtuous and marry well do not fall, by extension the opposite is true.

In Lovers’ Vows Kotzebue condoned and rewarded immorality in Agatha; Jane Austen condemned and punished it in Maria Rushworth. He depicted immodesty in an attractive light in Amelia; she exalted the opposite virtue in Fanny Price and penalized indelicacy in Mary Crawford. He allowed Baron Wildenhaim to rise easily above worldliness; She depicted Sir Thomas Bertram succumbing to insidious temptation. Austen took Kotzebue’s character devices and situations and granted them a profoundly human significance that constructed and reinforced her own moral standard upon the reader.

Review Article: ‘Jane Austen & the Empire’ by Edward Said

In his essay “Jane Austen and the Empire”, from the book Culture and Imperialism, Edward Said outlays an argument surrounding Austen’s work on the British life which is related to the geographical positioning and politics in her novel “Mansfield Park”. At the same time he also criticizes her upon taking two extreme notions relating to European and American justification but most importantly the writer’s ignorance of colonialism, its impacts and the social criticism of Western authors writing about colonialism, its political order and its justification. Mansfield Park is Jane Austen’s third and most controversial novel. The themes it deals with have three different layers centering on Colonialism, Imperialism and Slavery in England. Looking at it in its historical context, British Empire’s colonization of the America resulted into American colonies which forced a larger demand for resources to be spread around and increased slave trade. On the other hand, the British Empire used Imperialism to control West Africa and Caribbean islands which aided in the success of slave trading, sugar plantations and expansion of the British territory.

The storyline of the novel revolves around, Fanny Price; one of the main characters’ in the novel who is sent to live with her wealthy Aunt and Uncle in Northampton-shire at Mansfield Park. Fanny was from a poor line of the family, and her parents were not assiduous and sensible managers of wealth. Her uncle was a plantation owner in Antigua, and belonged from a rich class. There is a typical Jane Austen ending to the novel where Fanny ends up marrying her cousin. The most significant element in the text which is also relevant to Edward Said’s argument is that her uncle is a plantation owner.

Said while arguing in his essay, highlights the importance of historical context while reading the great literature of the Modern Western civilization. He contextualizes imperialism as: “the practice, the theory, and the attitudes of a dominating metropolitan center ruling a distant territory.” Moreover he contends onto the idea, that no less than in the territories that the British occupied and dominated, the reality of empire pervaded the entire culture as per dictated by the power narratives. Said constantly alludes to Austen’s lack of concern for the slave trade, because her narrative lacks the description which is needed to properly illustrate the subject, and the setting. Said argues that without the slave trade, the Bertram’s could not have been possible. He also believes that Austen is fully aware of the fact that slavery enables the Bertram’s to flourish in Mansfield Park. Otherwise, she simply would not have written so much about wealth and class in relation to the success of women, in her novels; for that matter. Within the novel “Mansfield Park” we see a dialogue taking place within Edmund and Fanny:

“Did not you hear me ask him about the slave-trade last night?”

“I did – and was in hopes the question would be followed up by others. It would have pleased your uncle to be inquired of farther.”

“I longed to do it – but there was such a dead silence!”

Edward Said on this instance notes that Jane Austen devotes little time to the logical explanation of the colonies or the management thereof. But he identifies throughout the novel, her proclivity to accept the colonies as a proper means of maintaining the wealth of England. While slavery doesn’t take a central role in Mansfield Park, much of the action occurs due to the fact that Sir Thomas Bertram spends two years in Antigua on urgent business. This urgent business is vague in its nature, but Austen gives readers some information with statements about the “poor returns” from the Antiguan property and that “a large part of his income was unsettled.” What’s problematic is that, Readers are left to sort out for themselves the causes and solutions of these financial problems. Standard economy histories note a slump in sugar prices in the West Indies, but Austen fails to provide a specific cause for Bertram’s Antigua plantation’s financial struggles. The causes of the declining profits and “unsettled” income could be related to a diminished labor force which happened as a result of the Abolition Act of 1807, which would have put his plantation in direct competition with foreign sugar-producing colonies that continued to practice the slave trade. Furthermore, Said also notes that England, unlike the Spanish and to some extent the French, was more focused on long-term subjugation of the colonies, on managing the colonized peoples to cultivate sugar and other commodities for the English. Said uses the literature of that period to illustrate the extent to which acceptance was shown towards the notion of slavery.

In the novel, Antigua represents the colonies and Mansfield Park, the British Empire. ‘Sir Thomas’ is an archetypical master who exploits the slaves in the West Indies in order to run his estate and earn money for his English countryside mansion. Fanny represents the possibility of social advancement by marriage to a member of the superior class. Said shows a two-sided view on Austen’s intention when writing the novel. On the one hand, he highlights Austen’s failure to mention the reliance of Mansfield Park on the slavery of the plantation in Antigua which shows her intentional glorification of slavery. On the other hand, he expresses a respectful consideration of Austen’s work by appreciating her portrayal of the British life, geographical positioning and its political implications. He also states that Austen’s implicit representation of the colonial order between the superior white class and the slaves shows her assumption of this order as natural and not man-made. It is the same approach that he talks about in ‘Orientalism’ and the binary that he draws between the ‘Other and the One.’ Furthermore, he states that authors of those times were often blamed for being “white, privileged, insensitive, complicit” and also for depicting the topic of colonialism and slavery on their own defined terms conforming to a greater cause. It has been argued within the essay that the discussed novel could not be considered as one of the “great literary masterpieces” due to its incompetency of engaging with the imperialist narrative to the point where it does justice to it. It is rather the reinforcement or the justification of the actions upheld by the one in power, on their acquisition of the territory for their own self benefit. In light of the given historical accounts, all the evidence clearly states that holding slaves on the West Indian sugar plantation was sheer cruelty. In lieu of that Austen’s ideology and vision of bringing about social change within the society and her incessant values are completely at odds with this cruel act of slavery. Also her character Sir Thomas on the inquisition of Fanny gives away “dead silence” when she asks him about the slave trade. This clearly gives away the biased approach wherein one narrative holds superiority over the other also in terms of common language barrier.

A few pages later in Culture & Imperialism, Said points out the importance of this deeper and more complex criticism, he has offered us of Austen’s Mansfield Park. Said calls it ‘the structure of attitude and reference’ and does not intend this postcolonial perspective to replace other prevalent perspectives. He is of the view that such criticism should be used in addition to the traditional literary criticism. His emphasis is on the fact that slight references to the colonial world which are made are of huge importance in great literature. He furthermore suggests that it is precisely in great literature that we are able to see the internal structure of conflict over a morality that, though not acceptable in the polite society of the empire, has permeated the thinking of those for whom the great literature was written. Jane Austen’s sensibility could not deal with the issue of the ‘slave trade,’ which, in the novel, was met with ‘dead silence.’ Edward Said’s comments:

‘In time there would no longer be a dead silence when slavery was spoken of, and the subject became central in a new understanding of what Europe was.’

From a critical point of view, the focal point of Said’s main argument is the “dead silence” towards the idea of slavery and the indifference that Austen’s characters show by staying silent to this, from which he interprets the suppression of the colonial discourse and its justification. But this is not the only way to look at it, many scholars argue that Austen’s silence to this whole idea could be the sign of the guilty conscience and it could be the writer’s effort to keep the tone of the novel light and not to ignite the plot or charge it emotionally. Moreover the indifference of her characters towards this whole economically and politically penetrating ideas could’ve been portrayed dislikable, on purpose. Moreover, Said has also ignored the gender dimension of colonial writing in the writer’s work and the idea that abolitionist campaigns were mostly supported by women from Austen’s generation. In the novel, Austen seems to condone the way of life she has represented. We can either look at it the way she tells it or we can dig down the sentiments regarding slavery which prevailed in her surroundings. The referential passage about dead silence referring to slavery could be nothing more than just a reference to the realities of life lived in England at the time Austen was writing. Austen’s historical knowledge blatantly questioned by Said could also be mooted down, in this regard; keeping in view her extensive social awareness.

While Said does a good job at showing how Austen does not address slavery and imperialism, within her novel and shows that there is a ‘dead silence’ on the issues, he does not provide enough satisfactory evidence to conclude that these subjects are a major part of the plot and how there is a need which has to be established to further explain them. On the contrary, quite often he falls into the trap which he himself warned against, accusing an author of allowing an abusive system to flourish due to their silence within their novels. Said is correct in pointing out the subtle hints of the economy of Mansfield Park and is quite right in saying that ‘The Bertrams could not have been possible without the slave trade’, but hanging a theory on these straws would be ignoring the far bigger themes and lessons which could be derived from the novel. The novel might have a number of logical flaws yet it certainly exceeds in raising the awareness of the nuances happening in the setting of the novel. Edward’s contribution to this whole thing could be addressed as an example of how one can take their historical knowledge and use it to improve one’s understanding and the ability to appreciate the complexity knitted within the text, without jumping to any conclusions, producing an accurate reading which is true to the text itself.

Works Cited

1. Deb, Janeite. “Quoting Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park ~ The Issue of Slavery and the Slave Trade” Jane Austen in Vermont, WordPress, 28 August 2014,janeausteninvermont.blog/2014/08/28/quoting-jane-austens-mansfield-park-the-issue-of-slavery-and-the-slave-trade/
2. “Austen and Antigua – Slavery in Her Time”, Considering Jane Austen, WordPress consideringausten.wordpress.com/austen-and-antigua-slavery-in-her-time/
3. Emsley, Sarah. “Jane Austen’s “dead silence,” or, How Guilty is Sir Thomas Bertram?” Sarah Emsley, 29 August 2014, sarahemsley.com/2014/08/29/jane-austens-dead-silence/
4. Dorrycott, Elizabeth. “Mansfield Park Historical Context”, 1 August 2016, Youtube, youtube/KsnJ7u48Lg0