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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
challenging
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a reread for me, but I still do not like it as much as Austen's other novels. Fanny is much less annoying to me than she used to be, and if anything became a bit relatable. That's it. The novel drags on and then gets wrapped up in such a way that it feels like Austen had to meet a publisher's deadline and didn't have time to plot out the actual resolution. Also I do NOT like Edmund and Fanny as a couple. Like I'm sorry those are basically siblings.
Anyway Claudia Gray did a great job expanding on the stuff resolved here in The Rushworth Family Plot which is the primary reason I'm rereading this.
Anyway Claudia Gray did a great job expanding on the stuff resolved here in The Rushworth Family Plot which is the primary reason I'm rereading this.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Looking back, I can definitely see why this isn't a well known Austen work, but I don't think it deserves to be sidelined either. Mansfield Park doesn't centre around a grand romance featuring a strong-willed heroïne. Rather, it's a family drama with some heavy-handed but fair commentary on the importance of morality and principle over wealth and luxury, featuring a timid, insecure and mostly passive protagonist.
While some might call her boring or even a doormat, I thought Fanny Price was a brilliant protagonist. Sure, she's a people pleaser with low self-esteem, but her devotion towards her aunt Bertram, her forbearancd in the face of insult and scorn from her aunt Norris and her cousins, her humility and gratitude towards the family who took her in, and her unwavering moral principles in het face of significant scorn and social pressure are absolutely admirable. I'm really enjoying how Austen manages to write "strong female characters" (I hate to use the phrase, but well) in her novels in so many different ways. Fanny isn't strong-willed and confident like Elizabeth, she's not rational and conscientious like Eleanor, her strength lies in her principles, her loyalty, her humility and grace. She deserve her fair share of the limelight among other Jane Austen protagonists.
That said, this wasn't the smoothest read for me. Only from the moment the play was being set up near the halfway point did the plot become more interesting. Edmund was a rather boring and infuriating love interest. How he continually failed to realise he and Mary Crawford would be terrible as a couple is beyond me. But all in all, the characters were good sources of drama. I enjoyed the sisterly rivalry between Maria and Julia, Mary Crawford 's bitchy behaviour and Henry Crawford's chaotic playboy energy. The ending felt very rushed, which did bother me quite a bit. Like a fairy tale ending, everything was resolved extremely quickly and smoothly. The message of the story about the importance of good moral character over wealth was also a bit too on the nose sometimes, although it was interesting to see just how large of a role one's income plays in the social politics of the Regency Era.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend this for a first-time Austen reader, but if you've read a few and want something a bit different, go give it a chance.
While some might call her boring or even a doormat, I thought Fanny Price was a brilliant protagonist. Sure, she's a people pleaser with low self-esteem, but her devotion towards her aunt Bertram, her forbearancd in the face of insult and scorn from her aunt Norris and her cousins, her humility and gratitude towards the family who took her in, and her unwavering moral principles in het face of significant scorn and social pressure are absolutely admirable. I'm really enjoying how Austen manages to write "strong female characters" (I hate to use the phrase, but well) in her novels in so many different ways. Fanny isn't strong-willed and confident like Elizabeth, she's not rational and conscientious like Eleanor, her strength lies in her principles, her loyalty, her humility and grace. She deserve her fair share of the limelight among other Jane Austen protagonists.
That said, this wasn't the smoothest read for me. Only from the moment the play was being set up near the halfway point did the plot become more interesting. Edmund was a rather boring and infuriating love interest. How he continually failed to realise he and Mary Crawford would be terrible as a couple is beyond me. But all in all, the characters were good sources of drama. I enjoyed the sisterly rivalry between Maria and Julia, Mary Crawford 's bitchy behaviour and Henry Crawford's chaotic playboy energy. The ending felt very rushed, which did bother me quite a bit. Like a fairy tale ending, everything was resolved extremely quickly and smoothly. The message of the story about the importance of good moral character over wealth was also a bit too on the nose sometimes, although it was interesting to see just how large of a role one's income plays in the social politics of the Regency Era.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend this for a first-time Austen reader, but if you've read a few and want something a bit different, go give it a chance.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Très différent de Pride & Prejudice (qui était le seul livre de Jane Austen que j'avais lu), Mansfield Park est un roman que j'ai tout de même très bien apprécié.
Si au début j'ai eu du mal à m'attacher au personnage de Fanny Price et que j'ai trouvé la première moitié plutôt longue, elle servait à mettre en place les éléments et relations qui ont fait que j'ai bien mieux aimé la deuxième partie.
Si au début j'ai eu du mal à m'attacher au personnage de Fanny Price et que j'ai trouvé la première moitié plutôt longue, elle servait à mettre en place les éléments et relations qui ont fait que j'ai bien mieux aimé la deuxième partie.
3,5* but the half is purely because I quite like Fanny as a character!
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes