Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (feat. British Imperialism, Slavery, & Much Piety) [cc]

[@marid2891]

Mmmm 🥧 pie

[@AmritabytheBook]

i'll have mine with a side of Lee Pace.

[@odile8701]

I’m not 100% sure I’d say Fanny and Edmund are my all time favorite Austen couple, and I’m not 100% sure I’d say Fanny is my favorite of her heroines. I love all the heroines and most of the couples for different reasons, and I get something incredibly different out of each book. But I ADORE Fanny and Edmund. Because I am more quiet. And I love when someone takes the time to get to know me. Because I LOVE that he cares, when no one else does. Because I am so moved by the fact that he realizes she’s worth looking after. That he realizes she needs a bit more care than most people. You can hate her for that, but it’s real. Some people just need more care than others. He gets that about her, and he’s willing to put the effort in. Not only the minimum effort to be a good person to a family member, but willing to become her champion. Because given the position she’s in, she CAN’T stand up her herself. People forget that, but she’s literally banished back to a place she probably wouldn’t long survive when she dares to say no to Henry. That threat was always hanging over her head. Edmund can be her voice, given the position he’s in. And he uses his privilege to try to stand between her and the worst of what the family might subject her too. And he did all that for her when he didn’t have to care at all, because certainly no one else did. I can’t help but love that. I can’t help but love someone who sees the fragility in another and, instead of damaging that fragility, protects it.

[@jezpin3638]

I dont think Austen forgets that this house lives on slave money. She named the house after the judge that presided over the Somerset 1772 case that freed a lot of people. Like you said at the beginning, there are many things that people of Austen's time would have implicitly understood. So the only fault she made with this book is that she dated it. It is not timeless, it cant be made into a perky highschool popular girl drama. These are horrible people. I think this is Fanny's breaking bad, she starts off as the most sympathetic creature and slowly your hate her. I get stuck on what a horrible Parsons wife she's going to be, she will be so pious and have so much power in that little town.

[@miricook7360]

You missed the soul ache-to physical illness- of the older son of the Bertrams who was shocked by what he saw at his family's plantations. I think that more than any moralizing by Fanny Price that shows Austen's feelings about slavery. Fanny may have loved and idealized the wealth of Mansfield Park but Austen did not.

[@jezpin3638]

Yep. I think this creator forgetting the character's opinion is not the author's.

[@marid2891]

This was my favorite Austen book in my 20’s Idk why? Well I do. I was really hung up on Fanny getting together with the antihero. I wanted to imagine her changing him.

[@AmritabytheBook]

that is entirely too interesting an arc for Fanny. she needs the pie.

[@llandrin9205]

When I read Mansfield Park I was struck by several things. First was when Fanny said that if her uncle were to bring a slave to England there would be the question of the slave being free in England. Secondly, was the older son who was so upset by what he saw on the plantation that he came home and tried to erase what he had seen by hard living. I very much got an anti--slavery vibe from the book. The main story of the novel is not as compelling as some of her other novels. However, the downfall of Maria is more explicit than some of the other examples of women believing the lies of a lothario which is a common thread through her books.

[@jezpin3638]

I think the immorality of the whole family is the centre point in the book. I think people don't actually like the book because the characters do all this mental gymnastics to convince themselves that they are good people, and the audience are along for the ride and they understand each decision made by the characters but still hate where they end up.

[@LanaExLibris]

I read all JA novels when I was 14 and I honestly remember nothing of Mansfield Park except that it was boring me to tears. I'd like to re-read it as an adult and this video gave me thoughts to think. thank you, Amrita!

[@AmritabytheBook]

oh you're welcome! i think it definitely works better as a novel when you read it as an adult but also, it really sux ahahha I'd call it "interesting" rather than good.

[@safiyyas7299]

"Kerfuffle" is exactly the right way to put it, lol. I think Courtney Milan put it really well, when she said that you don't have to address the underlying racist/colonial factors in your happy historical romance, but if you include Alderaan being blown up, you'd better include the fallout

[@AmritabytheBook]

yeah i generally always agree with whatever Courtney has to say

[@MayataraJ9]

Thanks for this video! I am currently listening to Jane Austen audiobooks (including Mansfield Park), while simultaneously (and by chance) reading Open Veins of Latin America by Eduardo Galeano. I highly recommend reading these two very different books at the same time because it addresses that elephant in the room (how did the landed gentry achieve such luxurious lifestyles) with the very real and brutal accounts of what British and other colonizers were doing in the Americas at the same time.

[@safiyyas7299]

I will take up the Fanny Price challenge! (But not Edmund; nothing could make Edmund remotely interesting.) Fanny SHOULD have ended up with Henry Crawford; he would have helped her unbend hlin her rigidity, and she could have helped him gain some empathy. In fact, Austen practically leads us up to the Reformed Rake TM trope, before backing away at the last second, which would have been a GREAT character arc for all concerned! I kind of give Fanny a pass on the mousiness, due to years of abusive treatment from her whole family.

[@AmritabytheBook]

see, if she'd laid aside her saintliness for one second and gotten with Henry, i would have stanned her a lot more - BUT Henry is a doofus of the first order and I think Austen really nailed the problem with the reformed rake trope which is that they don't want to lmao and so i;m back to my original position of all these people are a SUX.

[@safiyyas7299]

@@AmritabytheBook Lol, fair enough. Mansfield is my least favourite of Austen's work, partly because everyone's character flaws are just rolled out to their extreme until they all became unlikeable. But I still think Henry was a far superior option as compared to Edmund

[@AmritabytheBook]

does it make sense if i say i like this book for discussion purposes rather than for reading?

[@safiyyas7299]

@@AmritabytheBook Absolutely; and honestly, my least favourite Austen book is still way ahead of most other books

[@AmritabytheBook]

Truth!

[@lukas_koe]

Very concise and incisive analysis, has my mind turning.

[@crystalsbookishlife]

Ah that's such a great point about historicals. Wonderfully said.

[@AmritabytheBook]

thank you :)

[@MooseTalksBooks]

Glad I watched this video! I haven't read much from Austen, but I'll have to check this one out!

[@AmritabytheBook]

with the right book, she's brilliant! i'd recommend starting with either Pride and Prejudice or Emma

[@MooseTalksBooks]

@@AmritabytheBook I've read Pride and Prejudice, and I liked it!

[@GalacticReads]

I haven't read this book, surprisingly, since I love Austen. A great review - will have to add it to my tbr!

[@AmritabytheBook]

do let me know what you think of it!

[@dramapanda4270]

I also thought that thread was very well written. Mansfield Park has never been a favorite of mine either, can't pinpoint why but I know I have not reread it. The PoC in HisRom is a very interesting and tricky minefield. Because ultimately, it seems all the titled Lords are complicit in one way. Maybe just have the leads not be titled? But then a lot of people read HisRom to get that"Duke falls in love" feeling. I truly don't know. P.S. Loved the Ned sighting :)

[@AmritabytheBook]

yeah, the glitz and glamor of the titled is definitely what draws people to these. because otherwise it's just Dickens with better sex. I wonder how much of it has to do with Heyer who was a notorious apologist for all the things we find problematic today.

[@user-iu7sf7vy5v]

This is a greatttt video!!

[@AmritabytheBook]

thanks Fatema!

[@safiyyas7299]

Three comments of one video, dang. Should have grouped these up! Just wanted to add: Edmund Bertram is totally the same character as Venetia's annoying neighbour Edward Yardley in the Georgette Heyer novel: preachy, ponderous, and can't take an anvil-sized hint

[@AmritabytheBook]

OH MY GOD you're absolutely on the money. eff edmund. also, i need to re-read Venetia, I think it's been a couple of years since my last re-read.

[@safiyyas7299]

@@AmritabytheBook The two would be BFFs, strolling around pompously, and discussing how waltzes were corrupting women's morals. Yuck.

[@AmritabytheBook]

Barf.

[@VidhyaVLbooks]

I have to read this book... I’m planning to read this as part of my Austen book club 🙂🙂

[@AmritabytheBook]

i hope you review it, i'd love to see what you think!

[@LadyJaneBooks]

This had some interesting insights. Never thought if Mansfield Park in in that way. I thought the story was actually quite creepy. “Said Prince being her cousin.” 😂😂😂😂

[@AmritabytheBook]

lbr, this book is nobody's favorite hahaha