An annalysis of the awakening of female consciousness in mansfield park

An Analysis of the Awakening of FemaleConsciousness in Mansfield ParkI. IntroductionJane Austen is a prominent woman writer in English literature in the 19th century. She was the first novelist to realistically describe the ordinary lives. Her works include Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey and Persuasio n. With her precise observation, Jane Austen became the only woman writer who can continually compare with Shakespeare in the history of English literature.Mansfield Park describes English upper-class’s living conditions in general and the love and marriage of several couples of young men and women in particular. It reveals their attitudes towards love and marriage. As Austen’s transition al work, Mansfield Park has an obvious feature: thick preaching color. So it is the most controversial work of Jane Austen. Some people regard it as Austen’s first fully mature work. They think it is perfect and touching. However, others believe its plot is dull. Austen’s mother ever thought of the heroine Fanny flat. But all of these can not prevent Mansfield Park from being a great work. Its greatness lies in its power to interest everybody. The complicated plot and vivid characters make Mansfield Park a significant breakthrough in narrative technique and inside description. It has become a landmark work in the history of English novel.Mansfield Park was written in Victorian age, which was the peak period of the English Industrial Revolution. The occurrence of industrial revolution caused social productivity to develop rapidly and mad e European women’s lives better, especially the middle-class women’s.The increase of leisure time led women to ponder their own worth. Female consciousness was born in patriarchal age, in which the overall framework of human civilization was highly imperfect and the civilization was built only according to male’s will. On the other hand, the development of productive forces drove the development of consciousness. Women had a better understanding of their own value. The established social and cultural tradition was shaken. Women truly sent messages of opposing patriarchal consciousness.In the traditional literary creation, many British women writers in the late 18th century examined and built female characters in their works in the male perspective. Nevertheless, with her keen vision, Jane Austen re-positioned female status and rights in order to express conscious and specific female consciousness. As Yang Jiang said, creating characters is probably her most interesting and best skill. (qtd. in Fu 15) So far, the study of Mansfield Park has focused on Jane Austen’s view of marriage and money,but research on the female consciousness reflected by the characters in this novel is not enough. By analyzing a series of female characters, we can discover Austen’s female consciousness, which emphasizes gender equality and women’s independent personality.II. The old generationThe old generation is the supporter of mercenary marriage. They consider their own interests in all aspects and wear persona at any moment. Just by depicting these human foibles, Jane Austen questions the traditional women’s values.dy BertramIt is inevitable to talk about property when it refers to marriage. For most people as well as Jane Austen, property has relation to whether the marriage is happy or not. “With only seven thousand pounds, Miss Maria Ward had good luck to captivate Sir Thomas Bertram, of Mansfield Park” (Mansfield Park 2). Her elder sister Miss Ward is married to the Rev. Mr. Norris with scarcely any private fortune, so she has to live on the cheap. This shows that at that time, people thought marriage could not be based on the pure love. The end result of love is marriage, but marriage is tangible. So they can not live without material base.As a mother, Lady Bertram is indifferent to her children’s education, even their marriage. Entering high society, she has never worried about small stuff. She is a “woman of very tranquil feelings, and a temper remarkably easy and indolent.” (3) She is a woman who thinks more of her pug than her children. Even when her husband is on business trip, she lies on the couch, leaving all household affairs managed by her sister Mrs. Norris. When her eldest daughter Maria Bertram reaches the marriage age, she does not go into public with her daughters. “She was too indolent even to accept a mother’s gratification in witnessing their success and enjoyment at the expense of any personal trouble.”(35) Her laissez-faire parenting style causes her daughters to merely have beautiful appearance but superficial moral concept and twisted values. In the end, they tip into degeneration because they can’t withstand the temptation of the outside world.As F anny’s aunt, Lady Bertram is indolent and selfish. She promised to adopt Fanny without hesitation nine years ago, which was related to her good living. She is very dependent on Fanny and wants Fanny to be with her all the time. When the young people visit Sotherton, or when they go to a ball or a party, she does not want to move, so she requires Fanny to stay with her. When Fanny returns to Portsmouth, she writes Fanny a lot, wishing Fanny to go back to Mansfield Park earlier. But without her husband’s permission, she does not dare to propose. When Fanny and Edmund intendto leave Mansfield P ark, “selfishly dear as she had long been to Lady Bertram, she could not be parted with willingly by her. No happiness of son or niece could make her wish the marriage. ” (468) Fortunately, Susan supplies F anny’s place to look after her.In fact, Lady Bertram only loves herself. She is not in agreement with the role of traditional wife. Nothing may have substantial effects on her. Such a lady who is indolent and selfish reflects the male domination in patriarchy society. On the other hand, she reflects wo men’s self-paralysis to respond to the inequality of their social status.B.Mrs. NorrisMarring Rev. Mr. Norris, Miss Ward becomes Mrs. Norris. Sir Thomas is happily able to give them an income and they “began their career of conjugal felicity with very little less than a thousand a year.” (3) Mrs. Norris falls short of the best, but is better than the worst. She serves faithfully to the Bertram and takes good care of them. However, she looks down upon the Price.Mrs. Norris is not a likable person, or literally, she is a woman who is meddlesome and scheming. When Mrs. Price addresses Lady Bertram to ask for help, saying her contrition and despondence and expressing the superfluity of children, Mrs. Norris is condescending and sticks to the correctness of her query on Mrs. Price’s choice of marriage. As for undertaking the care of Fanny, she harangues to interrupt Sir Thomas. She persuades this patriarch with a long passage sententiously. At the moment, her nosiness plays an important role in making Sir Thomas adopting Fanny. At the same time, what she says reflects her witty and critical thinking skills. Once Sir Thomas promises to adopt Fanny, she expresses a superior giver posture in front of Fanny. Since Fanny’s coming will increase her spending, she makes it impossible to adopt Fanny by reason of poor Mr. Norris’s indifferent state of health. She is only willing to contribute labor and refuses to contribute money, which reflects the petty bourgeoisie’s shrewd ness.Every day, in the guise of thrift, she plans for her own interests. She imposes herself as the wisest woman in this park. When everyone is preparing for the play, on the principle of economy, she supervises the making of clothes. She is complacent about saving half-crown for Sir Thomas. When the play is stopped, she takes away the green baize, which she happens to be particularly in want of. When Fanny’s old grey pony dies, Mrs. Norris isn’t willing to buy a new horse for Fanny. She thinks that Fanny can ride one of her cousins’horses at any time when they do not want them. When Fanny adheres to her own moral principle, refusing to act in the play, she thinks Fanny “a very obstinate, ungrateful girl” (147). Fanny’s refusal to accept Henry confuses Mr. Norris. She regards Fanny to be ungrateful. For the marriage between Maria and Mr. Rushworth, she “was most zealous in promoting the match, by everysuggestion and contrivance likely to enhance its desirableness to either party.” (39) She does not know he r niece’s true thoughts but t akes for granted that Maria should marry a rich man. Mrs. Norris’s vanity education should be responsible for the two nieces’ elopement.Mrs. Norris is a typical example who is extremely vainglorious and stingy. In the economical society, she is a good housekeeper who can rival with men. In Jane Austen’s works, Mrs. Norris is a precedent for women to assist men, but her work in not satisfying. Therefore, this precedent reflects the contradiction of Jane Austen’s thoughts. When women enjoy their autonomy, they must be authorized by men.III. The indulged young generationIn fact, the above-mentioned comic old characters are in a subordinate position in the novel. They serve as a foil to the radiant young generation, which highlights the youth’s unique personalities.A.Mary CrawfordMary Crawford has lost faith in love and considers marriage as transactions. When it comes to marriage, she not only considers love, but also takes various factors into account. She is a representative of surface glamour and inner corruption. She and her brother Henry Crawford are young people of fortune. When her sister Mrs. Grant looks out for a suitable match Tom Bertram for her, she is glad. Just as the words in Pride and Prejudice, “it is a truth unive rsally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” (Pride and Prejudice2) Similarly, a single woman with beauty and possession must need a single man with good fortune. She values Tom Bertram’s primogeniture,“his real park, five miles round and a spacious modern-built house.” (47)However, when Tom leaves home, Mary gets well along with Edmund Bertram. She appreciates Edmund’s extraordinary conversation. With Edmund’s favorable impression on her, she keeps a dubious relationship with him. When she knows Edmund will take up the post of a country clergyman, she can not endure clergyman’s quiet and simple life since she has been accustomed to the luxurious life in London. Hearing Tom is ill, she begins to care for Edmund again. She expects Tom to die earlier so that Edmund can have the chance to inherit the estate. Finally, Edmund knows her real character. She is judged by Edmund to have a putrescent and vacuous mind. They go their separate ways.Mary Crawford is outspoken and persistent. She never conceals her inner thoughts. She relentlessly expresses her disrespect for Mr. Crawford’s debauchery in front of friends, which is inconceivable for Fanny and Edmund. She knows thatEdmund chooses to be a clergyman, but she still makes a savage attack on clergy. When realizing it is difficult for Edmund to change his professional ideology, she reconsiders their relationship and plays hot and cold with Edmund. When she knows clearly that Edmund can not give her a rich life, she resolutely chooses to leave. That age endows her vanity, but it is valuable for Mary to spare no effort to express her inner thoughts.Mary Crawford represents the women who have clear target and are anxious to achieve quick success and get instant benefits. Internally, she reminds herself of the future life that she wants. She puts fame, wealth and status prior to affection and love. But on the other hand, she is an independent new generation. Her challenge to authority and persistence in self-discipline reveal her high pursuit of independence and freedom.B.Maria Bertram and Julia BertramThe young Bertrams also take property more into account in the security of their marriage. Vanity and utility defeat love. The eldest daughter Maria promises to marry Mr. Rush who she does not love, in order to be the hostess of Sotherton without a second thought. For Maria Bertram, marring Mr. Rushworth “would give her the enjoyment of a larger income than her father’s.”(38) Later, she loves Henry and flirts with him privately. But she has no courage to refuse her marriage with Mr. Rushworth. The good living can not fill the emptiness of her love. Soon after the marriage, she can not resist the temptation so as to meet Henry again. Risking universal condemnation, she elopes with Henry unexpectedly, which distresses and shames the whole family. Like her sister, Julia attempts to win Henry’s love. As a result, she is hurt by him. When there is no happiness in her love, she meets with Mr. Yates in London and elopes with him. Maria and Julia’s elopements are the direct challenge to patriarchal society.Their elopements not only humiliate authoritarian rule, but also destroy the conservative moral climate. As the future hostess of Sotherton, Maria tries a variety of ways to be alone together with Henry. In preparing the family play, in order to touch more with Henry, Maria chooses to be Agatha who often embraces Henry. Julia intended to be this character, but Henry says that he does not want Julia to engage in the part of Agatha, or he can not take it seriously. Finally, Julia bows out resolutely. Even though Maria has married Mr. Rushworth, when Henry tempts her again, she elopes with Henry according to her internal real ideas. Maria becomes the rebel of traditional marriage. In order to keep away from Henry and flee the authoritarian family, Julia also elopes with Mr. Yates, which manifests her desire and pursuit for freedom. Although elopement is a corrupt act, it succeeds in challenging the manor order and patriarchal system.For the sake of their love, they have already left Sir Thomas’s education behind. People’s true value is trampled deeply. Maria and Julia are the beloved daughters of Sir Thomas, who is noble and grand. But when they meet Henry Crawford, they begin tolose their minds and are spellbound by him. Henry is a hokey hypocrite. His sister Mary thinks that “he is the most horrible flirt that can be imagined.” (42) But it is this man that causes Maria and Julia to compete in order to win the favor of Henry. On the carriage to Sotherton, in order to sit with Henry, they fight each other with open and secret means. To settle the matter, Mrs. Grant expresses that “as you were saying lately that you wished you could drive, Julia, I think this will be a good opportunity for you to take a lesson.” (80) Then Julia is happy because of the realization of her wish, while Maria professes her unhappiness effusively. In the battle for seat, they ignore their status, discard female dignity and forget their brotherhood.IV. The independent and rational heroineThe heroine Fanny Price was born in poverty, which causes her to be adopted by the elegant Sir Thomas couples. In this large family, Fanny is pushed aside and teased by brothers and sisters. Servants purposely make difficulties for Fanny. However, Fanny who is pure and kind always keeps a gentle heart. She treats people in a hospitable and sincere way. In addition, she does not become a yes-man because of her status. She always sticks to her principle and is clear about right and wrong.A.Fanny’s view of lifeIn Mansfield Park, it seems that only Fanny retains the goodness and gratitude of human nature. When Sir Thomas goes to Antigua for the interests of the whole family at great risk, family members’ responses are chilling. His wife is selfish and does not like him to leave because of her own benefit. The Miss Bertrams are happy because they are relieved by his absence. Mrs. Norris has already arranged to break Sir Thomas’s grievous news to the others. B ut Fanny grieves that “Sir Thomas, who had done so much for her and her brothers, and who was gone perhaps never to return! that she should see him go without a tear! it was a shameful insensibility.” (31) Fanny, as a woman, is not the embodiment of weakness. Instead, she becomes a spiritual guide. Fanny is the most docile woman in Jane Austen’s novels. She never contradicts and resists others when treated unfairly. However, it is not the sign of her weakness. Although her relatives and friends advise her to accept Henry’s l ove, she still refuses and sticks to her silent love for Edmund. When Sir Thomas is absent and the young people put on a private theatrical performance, Fanny refuses to take part in the performance because the performance violates the rules, which reflects her unique justice and principles. Even though Edmund who at first opposes the performance urges her to join in, she still insists her initial decision. At this point, Fanny does not oppose patriarchy blindly. And she rationally takes into account her attitude towards patriarchy. Fanny lives in a society where the old morality is destroyed and the new moral order has not been formed. In this moral vacuum, the original moral choice and judgment hasbegun to collapse gradually. People have different answers to what is right and what is wrong. But Fanny is a rational and thoughtful new woman, who does not drift with the tide. Finally, as a result of Sir Thomas’s opposition, this farce came to a premature end. The result indicates that the children of Thomas oppose patriarchal despotism ostensibly. They can not essentially get rid of the control of patriarchy.B.Fanny’s view of loveShe does not choose her partner according to wealth and status. On the contrary, she strives for her happiness rationally and independently. Although she is the most deprived heroine of Jane Austen’s novels, she gives a challenge to female view of spouse. Her love is full of twists and turns, but it is full of feminism.Fanny bravely refuses Henry Crawford’s courtship. Sir Thomas thinks that Henry “is a young man of sense and, of character, of temper, of manners, and of fortune. Gladly would he have bestowed either of his own daughters on him.”(315) But it is such a satisfactory man that Fanny refuses explicitly. From the point of Fanny, Henry is a flashy man, so she can not marry him. At the very start, Henry merely plans to make Fanny in love with him, which reveals the latent essence of a playboy. Fanny remains indifferent toward Henry’s attentions, which forces Henry to take interest in her. Henry Crawford is deeply in love with Fanny and wants to marry her. He takes great pains to get her brother William on. Though grateful for what Henry does for her brother, she still refuses his proposal rationally. In British society at that time, what Fanny does is considered as insanity. But it is this point makes Fanny different from others.She insists on her own minds and does not compromise because of her friends’persuasion. When knowing Fanny’s refusal of Henry, her family and friends are surprised and persuade her to accept Henry. Even Edmund who cares for Fanny most still supports her father Sir Thomas to contribute to the marriage of Henry and Fanny. Her respected Sir Thomas rigorously gives her a dressing-down. In order to awaken Fanny to the reality thoroughly, Sir Thomas lets her back to Portsmouth to know her poor situation. He “wished her to be heartily sick of home before her visit ended; and that a little abstinence from the elegancies and luxuries of Mansfield Park would bring her mind into a sober state, and incline her to a juster estimate of the value of that home of greater permanence, and equal comfort, of which she had the offer.”(366) However, deep in Fanny’s heart, she h as her own standard. Although the man is perfect in wealth, she will not marry the person she does not like. She knows he is frivolous in nature. Soon, Henry really exposes his nature. He elopes with Maria Bertram who has married. Everyone appreciates Fanny’s persistence. Fanny’s obstinacy not only is an im portant part of her personality charm, but also shows the awakening of female consciousness.She loves Edmund secretly and has the courage to strive for love. In Mansfield Park, Fanny lives with caution and tries to figure out everyone’s temper. She neverdoes what others dislike. Owing to Edmund, who is her only friend in Mansfield Park, Fanny does not feel the park indifferent and unfamiliar. To some extent, Edmund is the spiritual pillar and motivation for Fanny to live confidently. While Fanny is growing up, the dependence evolves into love gradually and Edmund goes into her heart. There is no doubt that Fanny loves Edmund but Edmund merely treats her as a sister. When Edmund loves Mary Crawford, Fanny can do nothing but to eat her heart out and dares not to show her jealousy. When Edmund fails in love, she takes care of him and enlightens him sincerely. She strives for her love bravely and marries Edmund in the end.C.Fanny’s challenge to patriarchyIn the 19th century, England was still a patriarchal society. Women were subordinate to men. But Jane Austen’s works break up the traditional mode and give the cry of female consciousness. It is Fanny, a rebel against the time, who revolts the patriarchy and shows the voice of female consciousness.When Fanny refuses Henry Crawford’s proposal, people around all oppose her decision. Sir Thomas not only harshly criticizes Fanny, but also uses threatening tactics to change her decision. The participation of Sir Thomas causes the authority of fathers to conflict with “daughters”. Sir Thomas b rings with all the characteristics of patriarchal society. He only believes in his own authority and thinks that he can force Fanny to change her mind. But what Fanny does is inconceivable and seriously challenges his authority. So Sir Thomas says: “you have disappointed every expectation I had formed, and you peculiarly free from willfulness of temper, self-conceit, and every tendency to that independence of spirit which prevails so much in modern days. Even in young women.” (314)What he says reveals his intolerableness for female independent consciousness. In his mind, women must obey him unconditionally. So he lets Fanny back to Portsmouth. Even Edmund who Fanny loves persuades her that “you have proved yourself upright and disinterested, prove yourself grateful and tender-hearted; and then you will be the perfect model of a woman which I have always believed you born for.” (343) What he said obliterates Fanny’s peculiarity and specific character. But Edmund’s persuasion does not work. Fanny does not submit to these autocratic thoughts and she still sticks to her own principle. It was a great revolt at that time. This action shows the female independent consciousness and status and is a declaration of breaking down women’s low status. Fanny’s revolt succeed s. She defends her marriage freedom by means of her own rationality. She controls her fate on her own. Therefore, when defending individual rights, women must resist various difficulties resolutely.V. ConclusionTo some extent, Mansfield Park is a transitional novel. Austen’s previous works reflect that money plays a key role in marriage, while the later works combine money with love, revealing women’s value for self-consciousness and the praise for female independent consciousness. She puts female intellect above everything. She believes that only with wisdom and reason, can women overcome various challenges in life, especially in love. Therefore, they will not lose their personality and dignity and will win men’s respect.As a pioneer of promoting female consciousness, Jane Austen represents the advanced ideas of her age. Her female consciousness is evident in her works. First of all, she thinks that women and men are equal in both family and society. Secondly, Austen supports women’s pursuit of liberty. They are the master of their own fortune. Thirdly, Austen appreciates women’s intellectual power. In her opinion, women are as rational as men. She believes that “women can think independently and make their own judgment.”(Tang 1) Fourthly, Austen expresses her opinion about marriage. She thinks that women’s marriage needs both love and property. “L ove is the foundation of a successful marriage and money is the security of marriage.” (Tang 1) Finally, Austen expresses her dissatisfaction with patriarchy, which can be seen by above-mentioned analysis of the female characters in this novel.We can find that Austen’s female consciousness is progressive and she criticizes the subordinate status of women in the patriarchal society. But she can not completely abandon the influence of historical tradition and real life on her, so her female consciousness cannot fully satisfy modern readers. In some aspects, although she calls for women’s wisdom and reason, she still emphasizes their role i n the family. It seems to me that in Austen’s opinion, w omen’s duty is to concern themselves with children’s education, ensure the comfort of their family and help their husbands build relationships.Nonetheless, we can not deny the fact that Austen is the torchbearer and pioneer of female consciousness in the history of English literature. Her female consciousness is a great contribution to literature. Subsequently, female consciousness in women writers’ works is more and more apparent. Till the Bronte sisters, it totally awakes and approaches the peak step by step.Works cited and consultedAnderson, Kathleen. “Lounging Ladies and Galloping Girls:Physical Strength and Feminity in Mansfield Park”. Women’s Studies 2009(03): 342-358.Austen, Jane. Mansfield Park. Beijing: Tsinghua University Press, 2011.---. Pride and Prejudice. Shanghai: World Publishing Corporation, 2008.Gillie, Christopher. A preface to Austen. Beijing: Peking University Press, 2005. Peltason, Timothy. “Mind and Mindlessness in Jane Austen”. Hudson Review 2015(04).Sabison, Elizabeth J. Private Sphere to World Stage: From Austen to Eliot. Burlington: Ashgate Publishing Group, 2008.Stove, Judy. “Instruction w ith Amusement: Jane Austen’s Women of Sense”.Renascence 2007(01): 2-16.Tang Hong. “A Feminist View of Jane Austen’s Persuasion”. Youth Liberator 2011(08). Waldron, Mary. Jane Austen and the Fiction of Her Time. London: Cambridge University Press, 2000.白忠德. 奥斯丁小说的女性自我意识[J]. 商洛学院学报，2008（04）：23-25.陈健. 试论奥斯丁小说中的女性意识[D]. 北华航天工业学院, 2010.崔月信. 《曼斯菲尔德庄园》的文学成就与争议[J]. 飞天，2014（04:）：24-25. 傅桂香. 《曼斯菲尔德庄园》中的女性意识[D]. 浙江师范大学，2012.刘炳善. 英国文学简史[M]. 郑州: 河南人民出版社, 2007.凌淑珍. 从女性主义角度解读《诺桑觉寺》[D]. 郑州大学, 2005.刘宇晶. 《曼斯菲尔德庄园》中简·奥斯汀的女性意识研究[J]. 读与写杂志, 2014(05).裘因. 奥斯丁与英国女性文学[J]. 上海大学学报, 1996(06): 28-33.孙小梅. 从简·奥斯丁后期作品看英国社会各阶层的变化[D]. 安徽大学, 2011. 王亚青. 从简奥斯丁到乔治艾略特—论十九世纪英国女性小说中女性意识的演变[D]. 南京师范大学, 2006.。