Importance of Place and Characters in Mansfield Park

Importance of Place and Characters in Mansfield Park

  • Submitted By: clsalter
  • Date Submitted: 11/17/2008 8:36 AM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 294
  • Page: 2
  • Views: 901

'Mansfield Park offends almost all of our modern pieties' - so difficult to adapt to film. Fanny Price seems to be a passive character. Many critics find Fanny Price priggish. Fanny proves her moral goodness by refusing to act in the household play. The dour tone of the novel matches its vision of a society in decline. On the surface, Mansfield Park 'seems a citadel in a turbulent world'. It is gracious and beautiful. But it is threatened not only by the outside forces but also include inside ones. Some outside forces include the faulty morality ofg London (the Crawfords), and the threat of financial loss (Sir Thomas' trip to Antigua and the ignobal Price family). Some inside forces are the fecklessness of Sir Thomas' heir, Tom, and then the shame that he suffers from his daughter Maria. Despite these difficulties, the traditional landed estate is held to be a worthier way of living than any other. This is recognised by Fanny when she is staying in Potsmouth with her family, whom she longs to leave. The novel is also an innovation in the English novel for having its physical world represented as having a direst influence on th elives of the characters and on their personalities. The settings in the novel are never neutral. For example the gardens at Sotherton play a particular part in the action. PLaces like Sotherton, Mansfield and Portsmouth offer opportunities and throw up inhibitions for the characters. Maria's disregard for the locked gate is echoed in Tom's overturning of the arrangements in his father's rooms. Both satisfy their egos at the expense of the owners of the terrritory they are violating. Their selfish desiress are shown to be indulged at the expense of others.

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