Read Jane Austen
Read Jane Austen

 

  1. Fanny Price is the heroine of Mansfield Park and her character is the source of great debate between academics and fans of Jane Austen. She divides opinion. Do you like her? Why? Do you think Jane Austen liked her? What about Mary Crawford? Do you think Jane Austen liked her as well? Discuss the differences in the characters and how Jane Austen wanted us to see them; and how they seemed to you.

 

  1. On first publication Mansfield Park was acclaimed for its ‘high moral tone’; but several others, including Jane Austen’s mother, found its heroine ‘insipid’ and therefore unsympathetic. Do you agree? Do you think this is a ‘moral’ book?

 

Read Jane Austen

 

  1. It has been said that Mansfield Park is about society – the rich and the poor, at all ends of the scale. Do you think the portrayal of the wealthy and those struggling to survive is accurate, or do you think Jane Austen was only scratching the surface of conditions in Regency England? How important is wealth and social standing to the characters in the book?

 

  1. Did you want Fanny to accept Henry Crawford, or did you want her to wait for Edmund?

 

Buy The Book