Mansfield Park: Duty, Virtue and Happiness

[@Abel-ec6ch]

I love Mansfield Park. I love Fanny. This video was perfect for me. Thank you for another great piece of work!

[@eryniel95]

Only just started your video, but I just have to say that Fanny was never passive, like Harry Potter, a lot of things are happening around her which she cannot always or very seldom influence, its on her to stay true to herself and her morals and that is true strength. Great video btw!

[@maryhamric]

Very timely. I just finished watching the 1983 mini-series yesterday, so Fanny is fresh in my mind.

[@ChristinaDaSilva-z7k]

I am interested in knowing more about Jane Austen's exposure to philosophy. It has been suggested to me that she might have encountered Aristotelian philosophy by reading Lord Shaftesbury, but it seems more likely to me that her own religious beliefs and practices formed her Aristotelian understanding of the virtues. What are your thoughts on this subject, and what is known about the philosophical books in her father's library? Please keep making videos!

[@beatrixscudeler]

Hi! I have a few videos on Austen and Aristoteleanism (see especially the first one I ever made on this channel!) but I agree that a lot of her thoughts on the virtues probably came from her religious upbringing (Irene Collins' books on Austen's Anglicanism are a great resource). I also have a video in which I talk about a book called Jane Austen and the Philosophy of the Virtues by Sarah Emsley, which is rather good (she also has a website with interesting articles on Austen). If you haven't, take a look at those videos and let me know your thoughts. Oh and about her father's library, there is unfortunately no catalogue that survived. We know of books she read from her letters and from inscriptions in a limited number of books, but other than that unfortunately it's a guessing game. I would be surprised if her father didn't have at least some exposure to Aristotle - he must have done! Lord Shaftesbury, who knows! Gilbert Ryle reckons so - I also review his essay on Austen in one of my videos - but it's not easy to prove...