In this episode, we read Chapters 22 to 25 of Mansfield Park. We talk about the friendship between Fanny and Mary, the tension between Mary and Edmund, Henry’s plan to make Fanny fall in love with him (and Mary’s reaction), William’s view of Fanny, the tour de force of Chapter 25 (the Speculation chapter), and Ellen’s articulation of why she cares about what happens to Fanny.
We discuss Dr and Mrs Grant, then Harriet’s partner Michael talks about the navy, with a focus on the process of passing from midshipman to lieutenant. Harriet talks about how adaptations and modernisations treat these chapters.
Things we mention:
General and character discussion:
- John Wiltshire [Editor], The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Jane Austen: Mansfield Park (2005)
- Pam Perkins, “A Subdued Gaiety: The Comedy of Mansfield Park“, Nineteenth-Century Literature, Vol. 48, No. 1 (Jun., 1993).
- Sheila Kaye-Smith and G.B. Stern, Talking of Jane Austen (1943)
- Barbara Pym, Excellent Women (1952)
- Mary Grant Bruce, Back to Billabong (1921) [NB Goodreads has put up a quite misleading cover illustration.]
- Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre (1847)
- Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist (1838)
- Charles Dickens, David Copperfield (1850)
- Kate Douglas Wiggin, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1903)
- L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables (1908)
- Eleanor H. Porter, Pollyanna (1913)
- J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997)
- Frances Burney (Burneyesque heroine)
- Elizabeth Goudge, Henrietta’s House (1942)
Historical discussion:
- Brian Southam, Jane Austen and the Navy (2003)
- Samantha Cavell, Playing at command: midshipmen and quarterdeck boys in the Royal Navy, 1793-1815 (2006) [Master’s thesis] and A Social History of Midshipmen and Quarterdeck Boys in the Royal Navy, 1761-1831 (2010) [Ph.D. thesis]
Popular culture discussion:
- Adaptations:
- BBC, Mansfield Park (1983) – starring Sylvestra Le Touzel and Nicholas Farrell (6 episodes)
- Miramax, Mansfield Park (1999) – starring Frances O’Connor and Jonny Lee Miller
- Laurence Sterne, A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy (1768)
- ITV, Mansfield Park (2007) – starring Billie Piper and Blake Ritson
- Modernisations:
- YouTube, Foot in the Door Theatre, From Mansfield With Love (2014-2015)
Creative commons music used:
- Extract from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Sonata No. 12 in F Major, ii. Adagio.
- Extract from Joseph Haydn, Piano Sonata No. 38. Performance by Ivan Ilić, recorded in Manchester in December, 2006. File originally from IMSLP.
- Extract from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Sonata No. 13 in B-Flat Major, iii. Allegretto Grazioso. File originally from Musopen.
- Extract from George Frideric Handel, Suite I, No. 2 in F Major, ii. Allegro. File originally from Musopen.
- Extract from Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 28 in A major. File originally from Musopen.