Mansfield Park This is probably Austen's most controversial novel - and it's very easy to see why! Fanny Price, the heroine, does not have the vivacity and ready wit that we so love in Emma Woodhouse or Elizabeth Bennet. She is separate unto herself. The "hero" of this novel (Edmund Bertram), too, is not what we'd expect to see. He spends half the novel blinded by his affections for a woman who is cheap, and who makes fun of Edmund's chosen profession: the clergy. Miss Austen even confounds us more by presenting us with a villain that many people actually prefer to the hero of the book! Fanny Price is a poor relation sent to live with her Aunt & Uncle and four cousins when she is ten. Her Aunt is an unconsciously lazy person - she spends most of her time lying about with her dog, 'Pug,' on her lap. Her Uncle is a busy man - good hearted, but very much out of touch with his children and niece Fanny's cousins are Tom, Edmund, Maria and Julia. Tom & Edmund are very much her seniors - but Edmund invests himself in her by providing her with books to read, making available to her materials for writing letters to her dear brother, and simply by *talking* with her.. Maria & Julia, however, are quite different. They take delight in feeling superior to young Fanny, and a relationship never fully develops. We are given only a brief look at Fanny’s childhood, however. The focal narrative of this novel happens when they "have all grown up." Maria & Julia are beautiful, vivacious and headstrong. Fanny is quiet, so quiet that some readers of this novel classify Fanny as "a mouse." Since Mansfield Park is situated in the country the Bertram girls are wont to complain for lack of company. It is a delight to them, then, when their minister’s wife has visitors. Mary & Henry Crawford are brother & sister. They have recently been living with an Uncle notorious for his immoral ways. Judging it best that they should be removed from such a situation, their older step sister (the clergyman’s wife) takes them into her home. They soon make themselves home at Mansfield Park. Both are talented, quite witty – and, of course, "perfect" companions for the Bertram young people. Fanny alone has concerns about this friendship. Mary & Henry seem to be rather cruel in their humours, and rather selfish in their actions. Because she is such a "mouse" she does not speak of these concerns unless asked. The only one to ask her is Edmund – fast falling in love with the delightful Mary – and he seems unwilling to listen. Henry soon makes both Julia & Maria enthralled with his personality – and Fanny is alarmed when he seems so ready to simply play on their emotions. Mary continues to torment Edmund. And, quiet, Fanny sits alone – observing it all and waiting for the final outcome. This book is very thought provoking - and, although there are definitely those who cannot stand it, I find it excellent. Be prepared for surprises! Buy this book in paperback!(Before I got my hardcover edition, this is what my copy looked like.) Isn't there a movie? Yes, there is. Patricia Rozema directed a version a few years back. The consenus among those truly dedicated to Jane Austen? A crime. Patricia Rozema has openly declared she does not care for Fanny's character in the book. This movie has nudity. It drastically changes aspects of the story. It completely changes personalities. This is not Jane Austen's Mansfield Park. This is Patricia Rozema's feministic interpretation and personal philosophy stuck into one of the classics of English literature. 
