![Book Cover of Mansfield Park](/image/book/mansfield-park.webp)
Mansfield Park
by Jane Austen
'Mansfield Park' Summary
Fanny Price, at age ten, is sent from her impoverished home in Portsmouth to live as one of the family at Mansfield Park, the Northamptonshire country estate of her uncle, Sir Thomas Bertram. There she is mistreated by all but her elder cousin Edmund. Her aunt Norris, the wife of the clergyman at the Mansfield parsonage, makes herself particularly unpleasant.
When Fanny is fifteen, Aunt Norris is widowed and the frequency of her visits to Mansfield Park increases, as does her mistreatment of Fanny. A year later, Sir Thomas leaves to deal with problems on his plantation in Antigua, taking his spendthrift eldest son Tom. Mrs Norris, looking for a husband for Maria, finds Mr Rushworth, who is rich but weak-willed and considered stupid, and Maria accepts his proposal.
The following year, Henry Crawford and his sister, Mary, arrive at the parsonage to stay with their half-sister, the wife of the new incumbent, Dr Grant. With their fashionable London ways, they enliven life in Mansfield. Edmund and Mary then start to show interest in one another.
On a visit to Mr Rushworth's estate, Henry flirts with both Maria and Julia. Maria believes Henry is in love with her and so treats Mr Rushworth dismissively, provoking his jealousy, while Julia struggles with jealousy and resentment towards her sister. Mary is disappointed to learn that Edmund will be a clergyman and tries to undermine his vocation. Fanny fears that Mary's charms are blinding Edmund to her flaws.
After Tom returns, he encourages the young people to begin rehearsals for an amateur performance of the play Lovers' Vows. Edmund objects, believing Sir Thomas would disapprove and feeling that the subject matter of the play is inappropriate for his sisters. But after much pressure, he agrees to take on the role of the lover of the character played by Mary. The play provides further opportunity for Henry and Maria to flirt. When Sir Thomas arrives home unexpectedly, the play is still in rehearsal and is cancelled. Henry departs without explanation and Maria goes ahead with marriage to Mr Rushworth. They then settle in London, taking Julia with them. Sir Thomas sees many improvements in Fanny and Mary Crawford initiates a closer relationship with her.
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
EnglishPublished In
1814Author
![Jane Austen image](/thumbs/image/author/jane-austen.webp)
Jane Austen
England
Jane Austen was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots often...
More on Jane AustenDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
Related books
![The Plastic Age Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/the-plastic-age.webp)
The Plastic Age by Percy Marks
The Plastic Age is a novel by Percy Marks that tells the story of Hugh Carver, a student at a fictional men's college called Sanford. With contents th...
![American Indian Fairy Tales Cover image](/image/noimage.jpeg)
American Indian Fairy Tales by Henry Schoolcraft
With no written language, Native Americans living in the Lake Superior region passed their cultural identity down through the generations by way of st...
![Heidi Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/heidi.webp)
Heidi by Johanna Spyri
Filled with descriptions of the magnificent Swiss Alps, the lives of the simple country folk who live in their picturesque peaks and valleys and the g...
![Curlie Carson Listens In Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/curlie-carson-listens-in.webp)
Curlie Carson Listens In by Roy J. Snell
It is an exciting and engaging mystery book a renowned author known for his thrilling stories, this book takes readers on a captivating journey. Firs...
![The Algonquin Legends of New England Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/the-algonquin-legends-of-new-england.webp)
The Algonquin Legends of New England by Charles G. Leland
This work, then, contains a collection of the myths, legends, and folk-lore of the principal Wabanaki, or Northeastern Algonquin, Indians; that is to...
![Phineas Finn the Irish Member Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/phineas-finn-the-irish-member.webp)
Phineas Finn the Irish Member by Anthony Trollope
Finn is the only son of a successful Irish doctor, Dr Malachi Finn of Killaloe, County Clare, who sends him to London to become a lawyer. He proves to...
![Parables from Nature Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/parables-from-nature.webp)
Parables from Nature by Margaret Gatty
Parables From Nature is a collection of short stories which were originally published as 4 separate volumes. They are inspired from Nature and written...
![Popular Tales from the Norse Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/popular-tales-from-the-norse.webp)
Popular Tales from the Norse by Sir George Webbe Dasent
The most careless reader can hardly fail to see that many of the Tales in this volume have the same groundwork as those with which he has been familia...
![Ragged Dick Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/ragged-dick.webp)
Ragged Dick by Horatio Alger
Ragged Dick; or, Street Life in New York with the Boot Blacks is a Bildungsroman by Horatio Alger Jr., which was serialized in The Student and Schoolm...
![The Garden God: A Tale of Two Boys Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/the-garden-god-a-tale-of-two-boys.webp)
The Garden God: A Tale of Two Boys by Forrest Reid
This Book is a Set in a time when innocence and curiosity ruled the hearts of young boys, this book weaves a beautiful tale of friendship, self-discov...
Reviews for Mansfield Park
No reviews posted or approved, yet...