Does Mansfield Park have a moral? Do other Austen novels have a moral lesson?
The Crawfords
In Henry and Mary Crawford, Austen created two witty, charismatic, attractive characters who are much livelier than Fanny Price and Edmund Bertram. Some have compared Mary Crawford to Elizabeth Bennet. Some people feel that Mary Crawford should be the heroine of Mansfield Park, not Fanny. How are we supposed to feel about her, and the world that she represents?
Dramatically speaking, was it an error for Austen to have created such attractive counterparts to the hero and heroine?
Austen writes that if Henry Crawford had “persevered” in his courtship of Fanny and reformed his character, “Fanny must have been his reward, and a reward very voluntarily bestowed, within a reasonable period from Edmund’s marrying Mary.” In other words, if he had behaved himself, he would have won Fanny’s hand in marriage.
Do you believe Fanny could ever have married Henry Crawford? Do you believe that he sincerely loved Fanny? Could she have reformed him? Would he have stayed faithful to her and would they have had a happy marriage?
Changing Social Mores
A group of young people, passing the rainy weeks of autumn together in “a dull country house,” decide to entertain themselves by staging a play. So what’s so wrong about that, as the critic Lionel Trilling asks rhetorically in his 1954 essay? Is this aspect of the novel difficult for modern readers to understand; is it difficult to pick up on the “dangerous intimacy” that the play creates? What might be a modern equivalent, that would shock the sensibilities of a today’s reader?
What about the things that Mary Crawford does—speak wittily but disrespectfully of her uncle, make fun of the Church—would they shock somebody at a dinner party today? Would she be considered to be morally deficient? Is there anything she says that you find genuinely shocking or distasteful?
Also, what would be the social outcome today for a woman who left her husband and ran off with another man within a year of her marriage?
Discussion Questions for
A Contrary Wind: a Sequel to Mansfield Park
Fanny Price, an intelligent but timid girl from a poor family, lives at Mansfield Park with her wealthy cousins. But the cruelty of her Aunt Norris, together with a broken heart, compel Fanny to run away and take a job as a governess. Far away from everything she ever knew and the man she secretly loves, will Fanny grow in strength and confidence? Will a new suitor help her to forget her past? Or will a reckless decision ruin her life and the lives of those she holds most dear?
This variation of Jane Austen’s novel includes all the familiar characters from Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, and some new acquaintances as well. There are some mature scenes and situations not suitable for all readers.
The actions of Maria Bertram
Given the emphasis placed upon chastity before marriage for unmarried girls from good families, and given the way young ladies were closely supervised, do you think that seductions and elopements were next-to-impossible, or do you think that people are people, capable of being swept away by passion, back then, just as they are today?
The maturation of Fanny Price
Fanny Price’s upbringing was even more isolated than her cousins, because she was not invited to go on outings or to balls. Given her extreme isolation, is it any wonder that she is socially naïve? What are the tendencies of her character before she runs away? How does she change in personality after she runs away from Mansfield Park? What does she observe and what does she learn?
Also, she is only eighteen years old when she runs away. Are most people fully-formed and realized adults at this stage? Do people take longer to grow up nowadays, as opposed to the past?
Fanny’s relationship with Edmund
Edmund Bertram is described in Mansfield Park as having shaped Fanny’s mind. His influence over her is profound. Is there a bad aspect to this? Apart from the cousin-marrying-cousin thing, is there anything objectionable in their relationship? Or are they two truly compatible people who are destined to come together?
If you have read both Mansfield Park and A Contrary Wind…
Which characters change the least, between the two novels? Which characters change the most?
For Janeites
How many passages of Jane Austen did you spot embedded in the text? What references or allusions to Mansfield Park or other Austen novels did you notice?
Discussion Questions for
A Marriage of Attachment:
a Sequel to A Contrary Wind
Faults and virtues
Before Jane Austen, most novelists (for example Samuel Richardson), created heroines who were pictures of perfection and virtue. Jane Austen laughed at this as being unrealistic. “Pictures of perfection… make me sick and wicked,” she famously said. She created heroines with faults. Emma and Elizabeth Bennet misjudge people. Marianne is too emotional and sentimental.
Describe Fanny or Julia as they appear in A Marriage of Attachment. Do they have faults? What are they? Do they grow and change during the novel or are they essentially the same people throughout the novel?
Marriage tips
A lot of characters demonstrate different attitudes towards love and marriage in A Marriage of Attachment. What is Janet Fraser’s attitude? Lady Delingpole’s? William Price’s? Whose opinion is the closest to your own? Is there some comment you particularly agree or disagree with? What advice would you give to a couple thinking about getting married today?
The risks of marriage
Married women had few legal protections. Their children belonged to their husband, as did their wages. It is estimated that the mortality rate during childbirth was about 7.5 out of 1000. Three of Jane Austen’s sisters-in-law died in childbirth. On the
