Mansfield Park (1814)

Henry Crawford's constancy did not last for long did it? That was such a shame... I wanted him and Fanny to end up together! ( )

¡El primito! ( )

I learned the harp to be an accomplished lady. ( )

This is so far my favourite Jane Austin book. That's all that needs to be said. ( )

Once again I find myself baffled at the task of giving “stars” to a book. Just recently I gave Madame Bovary three stars, but today I am giving Mansfield Park 5 stars. I am tired of justify, if even to myself only, the inner workings of my logic. So, be aware that the stars I give have to do to a personal measure of the pleasure a book gave me, in addition to provoking in myself some form of reflection on humanity and/or enlarging my understanding of social norms or historical/political moments.

Mansfield Park scored very, very high in personal pleasure. I actually listened to it in audio, and maybe part of the pleasure was in being carried to the time and place by the narrator. Jane Austen is such a great social commentator; her sharp wit in portraying the society around her, but also the emotional motivations of each character leaves me amazed.

I did play this game in my head, trying to figure out a different title for this book in the lines of other books by Austen (Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility), and the most apt title for this book in my opinion should be Rightness and Frivolity.

There is through this whole story the common tension of “the good and the bad”. And it is maybe too naïve and unrealistic that the good do win at the end. When I think of this book in these terms, I have to admit that Pride and Prejudice is maybe a more complex story, where the qualities of the characters are not so black and white as in Mansfield Park.

And yet, at this moment in my life, I am more prone to admire the fortitude of the righteous and to recognize the damaging power of the frivolous. The better example of it in the struggle of Henry and Mary Crawford to become better people who cannot however overcome their superficiality. And the strength of Fanny in not letting go of her moral principles even when faced with the great monetary advances of a marriage.

I will stop at this. The righteous don’t always gain my admiration. (it is too easy to be self-righteous) and the older I get, the less black and white, good and bad, the world has become. There are many shades of gray out there, and yet, it is nice to be reminded that good exists and that it wins at the end sometimes.
( )