Tuesday, December 7, 2010

What Mansfield Park Means to the World and to Me.


Mansfield Park, I have often been told, is my most controversial novel. I don’t quite understand this. I feel like it has a lot of similarities to my other stories, yet it is described as the “black sheep”. I meant for it to partially show what many of my other stories have showed, and that is the idea of following one's heart and not giving in to what society says one must do. Just because society says something might make one happy does not make it so.

I refused to marry for money, and I feel like Fanny would too. In many ways I feel like Fanny represents me. She embodies and lives by many of my beliefs and quite frankly much of my life. I wanted to show what I valued, such as familial relationships, education, passions for what one does, virtues, and also current happenings of society. I enjoy portraying the idea of power and illusion verses reality. I have heard much talk that this is my most… shall we say... risqué novel. I cannot say I did not mean to make this novel so complicated, it simply happened, and I have to say I am pleased. If it can show someone how I feel, but still get that person to think, then I am pleased.

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