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eggsoap's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
The narration is great, and I really loved the emotion Frances Barber is able to depict in each of the charcoal, but ThisI have completed feelings about the story.
Overall, I did enjoy but the way everything turned out towards the end felt rushed and unsatisfying.
The moral commentary behind Austen's work felt slightly contradictory in Mansfield Park. Fanny relied a lot on her own prejudices in how she responded to the Crawford's and was very withdrawn and over cautious. These are both things that were seen as a character flaws in Lizzie and Darcy, but Fanny is praised for them because they show her 'consistancy' and 'moral conviction'. Fanny is sweet and definitely has a lot of inner strength, but aside from becoming slightly less shy, she doesn't really see much character development and the rest of her flaws tend to be explained away as somehow actually being a good thing in the end.
There was also so much build up of the 'potential for good' in the Crawford siblings, and their genuinely seemed to want to do better that their downfall felt like it came out of nowhere.
The romance with Fanny and Edmund was also unsatisfactory. Austen constantly stressed their platonic connection on Edmund's side, despite Fanny being in love throughout that a few sentences in the final chapter don't convince me that he was able to realise that he was really in love with her all along. We see so much of Fanny's feelings that maybe if we had seen what prompted Edmund to realise he was in love then I could believe it.
The only satisfying part of the ending was that Mrs Norris got sent away and is constantly unhappy.
Overall, I did enjoy but the way everything turned out towards the end felt rushed and unsatisfying.
The moral commentary behind Austen's work felt slightly contradictory in Mansfield Park. Fanny relied a lot on her own prejudices in how she responded to the Crawford's and was very withdrawn and over cautious. These are both things that were seen as a character flaws in Lizzie and Darcy, but Fanny is praised for them because they show her 'consistancy' and 'moral conviction'. Fanny is sweet and definitely has a lot of inner strength, but aside from becoming slightly less shy, she doesn't really see much character development and the rest of her flaws tend to be explained away as somehow actually being a good thing in the end.
The romance with Fanny and Edmund was also unsatisfactory. Austen constantly stressed their platonic connection on Edmund's side, despite Fanny being in love throughout that a few sentences in the final chapter don't convince me that he was able to realise that he was really in love with her all along. We see so much of Fanny's feelings that maybe if we had seen what prompted Edmund to realise he was in love then I could believe it.
The only satisfying part of the ending was that Mrs Norris got sent away and is constantly unhappy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Classism
Moderate: Child abuse and Domestic abuse
Minor: Child death
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