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摘要：This paper makes an analysis on “Mansfield Park” by Jane Austen, a remarkable English woman novelist. It reviews the main story of the novel and expounds on the characterization and some features of the novel, such as the keynote, dialogues and style. Base on the above analysis, the paper points out the novel is more serious than other works and shows clearly Austen’s firm belief in the predominance of reason over passion and her preference for kindness, honesty and responsibility.
关键词：Mansfield Park；characterization；keynote；style
中图分类号：H31 文献标识码：A 文章编号：1009-0118（2011）-06-0-02
1.Introduction
Jane Austen is a gifted and remarkable English woman novelist, ranked among the truly great English realists headed by Dickens and Thackery. Her novels, for which stories of love and marriage provide the framework, show the concern about human beings in their personal relations with families and neighbors. Generally speaking, her novels are noted for delightfulness, fun, humor, wit and sentimentalism, although “Mansfield Park” has a serious note. The novel “Mansfield Park” mainly tells of the eternal triangle among mild-tempered and virtuous Fanny Price, beautiful but superficial Miss Mary Crawford, and Fanny’s cousin Edmund Bertram, a kind-hearted and responsible young man, and how the friendship between Fanny and Edmund develops into love.
2.Characterization
2.1Fanny’s image
Fanny, the heroine, is a shy, modest, sensitive, sweet-tempered, and virtuous girl, but not in good health. She is neither attractive nor disgusting, but she still has such good elements as graceful air, sweet voice, pretty countenance and the most important, virtue. Although her aunt Mrs. Norris is always particular about her behaviors, she tolerates the arrogance and contempt.. Fanny, on the other hand, is rational and moral. When these young people decide to perform “Lovers’ Vows” which may do harm to the reputation of Mansfield Park, only she and Edmund object to it. Later, she is almost forced by them to take part in the rehearsal, but she doubts whether she’s right or not. She is in envy when Mrs. Grants accepts the role and is praised by others, but reflection brings her better feelings, and she realizes that she cannot have been easy in joining a scheme which she must condemn altogether. By her calmness and good judgment, she finds what a person Henry is, and she doesn’t accept his proposal, while Sir Thomas thinks that she is self-willed to lose such a good chance. She realizes that Mary is a superficial woman, but she will never disparage Mary. She hides her true feelings for Edmund in her heart, bears the sufferings caused by her love, restrains her envy and bewilderment, and tries to comfort Edmund with great patience when Mary hurts him. To some extent Fanny is the embodiment of morality.
2.2 Mary Carwford’s image
Mary Carwford is considered as the second important heroine. Just like Elizabeth Bennet in “Pride and Prejudice,” Mary is beautiful, graceful, vigorous, and attractive. The contrast between Fanny and her is quite sharp. Her disposition is absolutely different from Fanny’s, that is, she is extrovert. Her beauty, ready wit, and friendliness strike people easily. Considering Tom’s place and great fortune in the future, she first loves Tom, but changes her mind when finding Edmund has more good qualities than Tom. But she doesn’t have serious attitude towards life. She laughs at Edmund when he has decided to assume the position of priest simply because she believes priests are only senior servants. When Maria elopes with Tom Crawford after she has marries Mr. Rush worth, Mary doesn’t feel shameful for them. She only scolds them for their carelessness. In her opinion, the exposure of their elopement is the result of their lack of common discretion and caution. Even if Mary Crawfort’s image may at first evoke our admiration, we can find our disgust towards her after finishing the novel. It is no doubt that Mary has received good education, but nobody teaches her to learn the good qualities of being a virtuous and moral person.
2.3 Edmund’s image
Edmund, hero of the novel, is a young man of good education, refined manners, and sense of responsibility. He is good-natured and he is kind to everybody including Fanny. He gives Fanny comfort when she is frustrated or feels helpless. He manages to buy Fanny a horse for riding, supports her when she is forced to take part in the rehearsal, sends her a necklace to wear at the party, believes Fanny’s abilities and encourages her to face life bravely. Edmund holds a serious attitude towards his life and profession. His character is mostly revealed through contrast with Henry. One appears to have all the good qualities of an ideal man while the other does really have them all. In the story, charming Henry seems to be honest, frank, generous, reliable, while the seemingly rigid Edmund is really a man of candor, honesty, and generosity. He doesn’t know how to flirt with young ladies as Henry and Tom do. Also, he is ready to devote to his profession, which makes him different from Tom and Henry who only know how to lead a luxurious and indulgent life. Through the contrast we can see that such a man is reliable, although he doesn’t seem to be attractive.
3.Some features in “Mansfield Park”
3.1Keynote
Irony abounds with the characters, too. Mrs. Norris boasts about her benevolence and her sacrificial spirit after she says she doesn’t know how to express herself, while her selfishness is shown everywhere. Henry Crawford proposes to Fanny and swears that he will love her forever, but elopes with another. Mrs. Bertram warns Maria not to do anything improper, but actually she doesn’t take this matter seriously. Thus, we can see that satire and irony help to bring the conscious criticism of the author to the reader and make the novel interesting. When reading, we ruminate over the ironical words, situations, and acts; then we learn to understand life better with a tolerant attitude, reflect on our own conduct seriously, and try to cultivate our mind and moralities. The satire and irony mean to be instructive and corrective.
3.2Vivid and wonderful dialogues
The novel is also noted for its vivid and delightful dialogues which run through a great part of the book. Jane Austen presents her characters through their daily talks. Each character has his own way of speaking and the dialogues indicate their depositions very accurately. For instance, Henry speaks like a real playboy, while Edmund speaks like a serious and responsible man. Also, Mrs. Norris exposes her true nature by her way of speaking. Through the dialogues we get most revealing insight into the inner world of the characters, their different personalities, their desires and intentions, and their firmness and vulnerability. Besides, these dialogues also help to push forward the development of the plot and prepare us for the outcome that befalls each character in the end.
4.Summary
Through the analysis of “Mansfield Park,” we can see that Jane Austen does write within a narrow sphere. The subject matter, the character range, and the plot are all restricted to the provincial or village life of the nineteenth-century England. However, by writing within the small experience and knowledge allows a closer analysis of characters and recurring situation. It’s no exaggeration to say that within her limited sphere, Jane Austen is unequaled in describing the involvements, feelings, and characters of ordinary life．
参考文献：
[1]Jane Austen.Mansfield Park.America:Bantam Books Inc,1983.
[2]Zhang Boxiang,Ma Jianjun.A Course Book of English Literature.Wuhan University,1999.
[3]常耀信.英国文学简史[M].南开大学出版社,2003.
[4]蒋承勇.英国小说发展史[M].浙江大学出版社,2006.
关键词：Mansfield Park；characterization；keynote；style
中图分类号：H31 文献标识码：A 文章编号：1009-0118（2011）-06-0-02
1.Introduction
Jane Austen is a gifted and remarkable English woman novelist, ranked among the truly great English realists headed by Dickens and Thackery. Her novels, for which stories of love and marriage provide the framework, show the concern about human beings in their personal relations with families and neighbors. Generally speaking, her novels are noted for delightfulness, fun, humor, wit and sentimentalism, although “Mansfield Park” has a serious note. The novel “Mansfield Park” mainly tells of the eternal triangle among mild-tempered and virtuous Fanny Price, beautiful but superficial Miss Mary Crawford, and Fanny’s cousin Edmund Bertram, a kind-hearted and responsible young man, and how the friendship between Fanny and Edmund develops into love.
2.Characterization
2.1Fanny’s image
Fanny, the heroine, is a shy, modest, sensitive, sweet-tempered, and virtuous girl, but not in good health. She is neither attractive nor disgusting, but she still has such good elements as graceful air, sweet voice, pretty countenance and the most important, virtue. Although her aunt Mrs. Norris is always particular about her behaviors, she tolerates the arrogance and contempt.. Fanny, on the other hand, is rational and moral. When these young people decide to perform “Lovers’ Vows” which may do harm to the reputation of Mansfield Park, only she and Edmund object to it. Later, she is almost forced by them to take part in the rehearsal, but she doubts whether she’s right or not. She is in envy when Mrs. Grants accepts the role and is praised by others, but reflection brings her better feelings, and she realizes that she cannot have been easy in joining a scheme which she must condemn altogether. By her calmness and good judgment, she finds what a person Henry is, and she doesn’t accept his proposal, while Sir Thomas thinks that she is self-willed to lose such a good chance. She realizes that Mary is a superficial woman, but she will never disparage Mary. She hides her true feelings for Edmund in her heart, bears the sufferings caused by her love, restrains her envy and bewilderment, and tries to comfort Edmund with great patience when Mary hurts him. To some extent Fanny is the embodiment of morality.
2.2 Mary Carwford’s image
Mary Carwford is considered as the second important heroine. Just like Elizabeth Bennet in “Pride and Prejudice,” Mary is beautiful, graceful, vigorous, and attractive. The contrast between Fanny and her is quite sharp. Her disposition is absolutely different from Fanny’s, that is, she is extrovert. Her beauty, ready wit, and friendliness strike people easily. Considering Tom’s place and great fortune in the future, she first loves Tom, but changes her mind when finding Edmund has more good qualities than Tom. But she doesn’t have serious attitude towards life. She laughs at Edmund when he has decided to assume the position of priest simply because she believes priests are only senior servants. When Maria elopes with Tom Crawford after she has marries Mr. Rush worth, Mary doesn’t feel shameful for them. She only scolds them for their carelessness. In her opinion, the exposure of their elopement is the result of their lack of common discretion and caution. Even if Mary Crawfort’s image may at first evoke our admiration, we can find our disgust towards her after finishing the novel. It is no doubt that Mary has received good education, but nobody teaches her to learn the good qualities of being a virtuous and moral person.
2.3 Edmund’s image
Edmund, hero of the novel, is a young man of good education, refined manners, and sense of responsibility. He is good-natured and he is kind to everybody including Fanny. He gives Fanny comfort when she is frustrated or feels helpless. He manages to buy Fanny a horse for riding, supports her when she is forced to take part in the rehearsal, sends her a necklace to wear at the party, believes Fanny’s abilities and encourages her to face life bravely. Edmund holds a serious attitude towards his life and profession. His character is mostly revealed through contrast with Henry. One appears to have all the good qualities of an ideal man while the other does really have them all. In the story, charming Henry seems to be honest, frank, generous, reliable, while the seemingly rigid Edmund is really a man of candor, honesty, and generosity. He doesn’t know how to flirt with young ladies as Henry and Tom do. Also, he is ready to devote to his profession, which makes him different from Tom and Henry who only know how to lead a luxurious and indulgent life. Through the contrast we can see that such a man is reliable, although he doesn’t seem to be attractive.
3.Some features in “Mansfield Park”
3.1Keynote
Irony abounds with the characters, too. Mrs. Norris boasts about her benevolence and her sacrificial spirit after she says she doesn’t know how to express herself, while her selfishness is shown everywhere. Henry Crawford proposes to Fanny and swears that he will love her forever, but elopes with another. Mrs. Bertram warns Maria not to do anything improper, but actually she doesn’t take this matter seriously. Thus, we can see that satire and irony help to bring the conscious criticism of the author to the reader and make the novel interesting. When reading, we ruminate over the ironical words, situations, and acts; then we learn to understand life better with a tolerant attitude, reflect on our own conduct seriously, and try to cultivate our mind and moralities. The satire and irony mean to be instructive and corrective.
3.2Vivid and wonderful dialogues
The novel is also noted for its vivid and delightful dialogues which run through a great part of the book. Jane Austen presents her characters through their daily talks. Each character has his own way of speaking and the dialogues indicate their depositions very accurately. For instance, Henry speaks like a real playboy, while Edmund speaks like a serious and responsible man. Also, Mrs. Norris exposes her true nature by her way of speaking. Through the dialogues we get most revealing insight into the inner world of the characters, their different personalities, their desires and intentions, and their firmness and vulnerability. Besides, these dialogues also help to push forward the development of the plot and prepare us for the outcome that befalls each character in the end.
4.Summary
Through the analysis of “Mansfield Park,” we can see that Jane Austen does write within a narrow sphere. The subject matter, the character range, and the plot are all restricted to the provincial or village life of the nineteenth-century England. However, by writing within the small experience and knowledge allows a closer analysis of characters and recurring situation. It’s no exaggeration to say that within her limited sphere, Jane Austen is unequaled in describing the involvements, feelings, and characters of ordinary life．
参考文献：
[1]Jane Austen.Mansfield Park.America:Bantam Books Inc,1983.
[2]Zhang Boxiang,Ma Jianjun.A Course Book of English Literature.Wuhan University,1999.
[3]常耀信.英国文学简史[M].南开大学出版社,2003.
[4]蒋承勇.英国小说发展史[M].浙江大学出版社,2006.