Mansfield Park Read-Along: Conclusion

We have arrived at the conclusion of MANSFIELD PARK! A lot happened in these last chapters. Thanks so much to our host Amber at Seasons of Humility. Check out her conclusion post, some great ideas and quotes! Here are my thoughts on this last section:

QUOTES:

"The only drawback was the doubt of her aunt Bertram's being comfortable without her. She was of use to no one else; but there she might be missed to a degree that she did not like to think of; and that part of the arrangement was, indeed, the hardest for Sir Thomas to accomplish, and what only he could have accomplished at all." I think we start to see Fanny's value to the family. Even though they think it is only going to hurt her aunt, they all end up missing her ways while she is at home.

"So her poor dear sister Price was left to all the disappointment of her missing such an opportunity, and another twenty years' absence, perhaps, begun." I love how they let Mrs. Norris talk herself out of going with Fanny! But I found this quote funny. I bet sister Price is happy she dodged that bullet!

"William was gone; and the home he had left her in was, Fanny could not conceal it from herself, in almost every respect the very reverse of what she could have wished. It was the abode of noise, disorder, and impropriety. Nobody was in their right place, nothing was done as it ought to be. She could not respect her parents as she had hoped. On her father, her confidence had not been sanguine...he swore and he drank, he was dirty and gross." Ack! Can you imagine poor Fanny being used to quiet and decorum being thrown into this zoo? And even as scared as she was around Sir Thomas she much would rather prefer him over this father of hers! 

"Her days were spent in a kind of slow bustle; all was busy without getting on, always behindhand and lamenting it, without altering her ways; wishing to be an economist, without contrivance or regularity; dissatisfied with her servants, without skill to make them better, and whether helping, or reprimanding, or indulging them, without any power of engaging their respect." Ah, Mrs. Price! I think she was overwhelmed by her huge family and lacked the energy to expend in any means of improvement for herself or anyone else. 

"Though Mansfield Park might have some pains, Portsmouth could have no pleasures." Even Mrs. Norris' constant putting down of Fanny is much more preferable to her than the noise and bustle and irritations of her family home. It had to be pretty bad if she would take Mrs. Norris over that! ha!

"So very fond of me! tis nonsense all. She loves nobody but herself and her brother. Her friends leading her astray for years! She is quite as likely to have led them astray." Wow! Fanny has the Crawford's number doesn't she? She knows exactly what they are about and is not duped like Edmund is! Bravo for Fanny!!!

"Never had Fanny more wanted a cordial." I had to laugh at this! Kind of the equivalent to "if I were only a drinking woman I'd poor me a stiff one right now!" bwhahahahahahahaha!

"Fanny's last meal in her father's house was in character with her frist; she was dismissed from it as hospitably as she had been welcomed."

"Lady Bertram came from the drawing-room to meet her; came with no indolent step; and falling on her neck, said, "Dear Fanny! now I shall be comfortable." Fanny leaves her birth home with little notice or fan-fare and gets home to Mansfield and is welcomed by her aunt Bertram with hugs and kisses and appreciation. Good for her!

"She was an altered creature, quieted, stupefied, indifferent to everything that passed." Mrs. Norris is finally brought to the reality of her errors! Maria was her favored niece and oh how she has fallen! But again a bit later she is blaming Fanny for not marrying Mr. Crawford. She says if Fanny had married him this wouldn't have happened. So she didn't learn too much of a lesson! Well, she gets what she wants...her and Maria living together and hating each other and being miserable together!

"It was the detection, in short--oh, Fanny! it was the detection, not the offence, which she reprobated." Oh, poor Edmund. To finally have his eyes opened to Miss Crawford's true character! 

My Thoughts:

And so the end! While I did find that there were some interesting moments in Mansfield Park, it is definitely not my favorite Jane Austen book. I was glad to see that Edmund's eyes were finally opened to Miss Crawford's connivings. I was also glad to see that Fanny was much more appreciated when she returned to Mansfield. I wonder if Mrs. Norris ever did learn her lesson? I wonder if she ever took responsibility for the way Maria behaved? As for the romance between Edmund and Fanny...what romance? It is like after all of the debacles of everyone else they kind of mutually gravitated to each other and the affection they had for each other grew into something more, but it all happened off the pages and the reader was just there for the happy ending. We did get glimpses of Fanny's affection for Edmund, but still it just kind of happened and there we were. So yeah, I'm kind of blah about that whole relationship! Can you imagine the scandal of Maria running off with Mr. Crawford?! I would have thought that his affection for Fanny would have changed his ways, but thankfully Fanny saw him for who he really was and he never really turned her heart or head. It was all about the chase and the game for him. He really had no interest in her heart or Maria's heart. He reaped destruction wherever he went. Evil man!

Questions from Amber's Blog:

1. Do you think Fanny's home and family had changed a lot since she left when she was a girl, or do you think Fanny was the one who changed the most?
I would say that Fanny had changed the most. I think that when we are gone a long time from a place we can forget it's faults(especially being as young as Fanny was when she went to Mansfield). 

2. Just for fun: What sort of conclusion would you give to Susan's story if you were to write a sequel/epilogue for her?
I would think that Susan would need a beau with a bit more spunk than a clergyman would have. The book says she became even more useful than Fanny ever was. Maybe she could have fallen in love with a schoolmaster since she had such a desire to learn things. But then once she came to Mansfield she might be expected to aspire to more than that? Hopefully she would find her happily ever after too :)

3. Which character's growth or consequences (as described in the last chapter) brought you the most satisfaction?

I would have to say Fanny's. She steadfastly stuck to her convictions. With love and affection her sweet nature blossomed even more. But honestly she and Edmund were not my favorite hero/heroine of Jane Austen's pen! 

Well, there you have it! The end of MANSFIELD PARK! If you read it or are reading it be sure to leave a comment about your thoughts! Until the next read-along readers!