History Literature / MansfieldPark

* IJustWantToBeLoved / IJustWantToBeSpecial: Fanny's main goal throughout the book "to be important" or "to be of consequence."

-->'''Henry Crawford:''' I never was so long in company with a girl in my life, trying to entertain her, and succeed so ill! Never met with a girl who looked so grave on me! I must try to get the better of this. Her looks say, "I will not like you, I am determined not to like you"; and I say she shall.
-->'''Mary Crawford:''' Foolish fellow! And so this is her attraction after all! This it is, her not caring about you...

* DoubleStandard: The {{narrator}} makes no secret of how society won't punish [[spoiler:Henry Crawford]] nearly as much as [[spoiler:Maria]] after their affair. Fanny also expresses her disdain for how women seem to be obligated to approve of any man who offers her his affection.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Unlike in the climax of ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'', no BigDamnHeroes can swoop in and save the family from shame and scandal this time.

* CinderellaCircumstances: No wonder Fanny's situation reminds people more of [[Literature/JaneEyre Charlotte Bronte]] than of Jane Austen.

* RealityEnsues: Unlike in the climax of ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'', no BigDamnHeroes can swoop in and save the family from shame and scandal this time.

* AdaptationalHeroism: The 1983 miniseries gives considerable amounts of this to Mrs Norris, removing or lightening her abusive and unreasonable traits to such an extent that she comes off as a well-meaning busybody at worst. Tom and the Bertram sisters are also made far more companionable with Fanny.

* AdaptationalHeroism: The 1983 miniseries gives considerable amounts of this to Mrs Norris, removing her abusive and unreasonable traits to such an extent that she comes off as a well-meaning busybody at worst. Tom and the Bertram sisters are also made far more companionable with Fanny.

* AdaptationalHeroism: The 1983 miniseries gives considerable amounts of this to Mrs Norris, removing her abusive and unreasonable traits to such an extent that she comes off as a well-meaning busybody at worst and actually cares about Fanny. Tom and the Bertram sisters are also made far more companionable with Fanny.

* CouldHAveAvoidedThisPlot: The narration notes that Lord Bertram offered to cancel Maria's marriage, telling her that it is her choice to go through with it. If she had taken his offer, [[spoiler:she wouldn't have been disgraced]] as the narrator sardonically noted.

* DarkerAndEdgier: In comparison to Austen's other novels, with a heroine who comes from a much less-wealthy family than the others' and suffers from the painfully realistic effects of a lifetime of psychological abuse, a particularly cruel and malicious antagonist with genuine power over the heroine (Mrs. Norris) rather than a merely arrogant, pompous one like [[Literature/PrideAndPrejudice Lady Catherine]], an actual case of adultery (and possibly off-screen sex during the Sotherton expedition), and its BittersweetEnding.

* AdaptationalHeroism: The 1983 miniseries gives considerable amounts of this to Mrs Norris, removing her abusive and unreasonable traits to such an extent that she comes off as a busybody at worst and actually cares about Fanny. Tom and the Bertram sisters are also made far more companionable with Fanny.

* AdaptationalHeroism: The 1983 miniseries gives considerable amounts of this to Mrs Norris, removing her abusive and unreasonable traits to such an extent that she comes off as a busybody at worst. Tom and the Bertram sisters are also made far more companionable with Fanny.

* AdaptationalHeroism: The 1983 miniseries gave considerable amounts of this to Mrs Norris, removing her abusive and unreasonable traits to such an extent that she comes off as a busybody at worst. Tom and the Bertram sisters are also made far more companionable with Fanny.

* BlackComedy: It's almost a RunningGag how various characters are so careless in discussing deaths, or the potential deaths, of various individuals whenever some interest of their own is involved. Yates bemoans how an old dowager couldn't have waited until the family's amateur play was over to die, Tom consoles himself with having forced his father to let the parsonage by supposing that Dr. Grant will soon "pop off" from an apoplexy, and Mrs. Norris is very enthusiastic about the idea of announcing Sir Thomas' death should his sea voyage go ill. [[spoiler:It takes on a much darker tone when Tom falls ill and Mary openly wishes for his death so Edmund can become baronet himself.]]

* NoAccountingForTaste: The Bertrams and the Rushworths; Sir Thomas' wife is lazy and unintelligent, and Mr. Rushworth is rather dim as well. Paradoxically, the Bertrams seem to be HappilyMarried at the same time, as it's made clear in a few scenes that they really care about each other.

* ZanyScheme: Mr. Yates wants to redo a cancelled amateur play with his new pals at Mansfield. First they have to decide on a script; since they're a bunch of spoiled rich kids, they need one where every character is the "best part". Half the group insists on a tragedy, the other on a comedy. Their production plan goes from a family amusement in one room to grand schemes of building a fully-dressed set and appropriating the absent Sir Thomas' own bedchamber as their green room. And as for the play they finally settle on: it's ''Lover's Vows'', which they use as an excuse to flirt inappropriately with each other.

** [[The novel ends with Tom undergoing this trope, as he gets a wake up call about his behavior after a near fatal illness and his "friends" abandon him.]]

* {{Cuckold}}: [[spoiler:Maria cheats on her husband with Henry Crawford; while her husband is older and boring, he didn't deserve that]]. The affair is exposed publicly and ends up in divorce and social disgrace. None of the characters involved in this LoveTriangle get much sympathy from the narrator.

* WickedStepmother: Mrs. Norris is Fanny's aunt, but otherwise fits the trope dead on. Considering that it was her idea in the first place to "adopt" Fanny, this comes very close to actually happening. Fanny's only saved by it because Mrs. Norris is too selfish to want to take even rudimentary care of her niece.

* BrokenPedestal: Edmund starts off as Fanny's only real friend in the household, and because he's older (he seems "almost a man" to her) he shows her kindness, intervenes in her education and helps her choose books on poetry, theology, philosophy and other subjects, he inadvertently creates a PygmalionPlot. She becomes an unintended Galatea, sharing many of his tastes and principles and almost worshiping him, while he only sees her as a little sister figure. However, when he starts misbehaving as a reason of his obsessive crush for Mary Crawford and of her inconsistent responses, Fanny is shown to become increasingly disappointed. This eventually becomes serious enough for her to vent her frustrations at his loved ones's (and, for all she knows, his) archaic view of the marriage market (she doesn't think Henry Crawford is [[EntitledToHaveYou entitled to have her]], even if it's convenient for him and everyone else). When he completely misses her meaning and thinks she's just too shy to admit what he thinks is a blatant crush on Henry, all the while constantly complaining about the state of his love affair with Mary and being ObliviousToLove, Fanny ends up ranting at his long-awaited letters instead of rejoicing at reading them.

Well, it was popular enough to be remade as ''[[http://www.amazon.com/Mansfield-Park-Mummies-Matrimony-Delights/dp/1607620472 Mansfield Park and Mummies]]'', and Creator/JKRowling liked it enough to name one character of hers after the villainess: [[http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/1999/1099-connectiontransc2.htm "Mrs Norris, people will have recognised, comes from Jane Austen."]]

* RejectedMarriageProposal: Henry Crawford tries to impress and court favour with Fanny Price, unable to stand the fact that she's indifferent to his charms. When he genuinely falls in love with her, he proposes only to be rejected. He visits Sir Thomas, Fanny's uncle, to ask his consent to the marriage. Subsequently, Fanny has to explain her rejection to her uncle, citing Henry's immoral and flirtatious character, but Sir Thomas finds it ridiculous that she would reject such an advantageous marriage. At this point, Fanny is secretly in love with her cousin, Edmund, which is another reason why she's reluctant to accept Henry's proposal; nor can she be completely honest about the extent of his rakish behaviour in order to protect the reputation of her cousins, Maria and Julia, with whom he had also flirted. Fanny is viewed with disdain for rejecting Henry, until [[spoiler: he runs off with the [[YourCheatingHeart now-married]] Maria, at which point everyone realises Fanny was right about him]].

* YourCheatingHeart: Maria cheats on her husband with Henry Crawford. The affair is exposed publicly and ends up in divorce and social disgrace. None of the characters involved in this LoveTriangle get much sympathy from the narrator.

* BecameTheirOwnAntithesis:
** Mary Crawford. From self-centered and elegant AntiVillain, GoldDigger for Edmund TrueCompanions with Fanny and SpiritedYoungLady to StupidEvil with a VillainousCrush and a FalseFriend.
** Tom Bertram goes from a [[ItsAllAboutMe self-involved]] irresponsible party animal to a responsible big brother with a GuiltComplex.

* YouGoGirl: Fanny calls out society (and by association everyone who's pressuring her to accept Henry Crawford's proposal) on the DoubleStandard of women being expected to cater to the whim of ''any'' suitor that comes along, no matter how he's treated her before. She rightly points out that, if she ''had'' actually taken Henry's previous flirtations as proof that he was interested in marrying her, she would have been maligned by her own gender for it and accused of getting ideas above her station. In stark contrast, ''' ''his'' ''' out-of-the-blue decision to propose is received by everyone as something extremely lucky for her, with no one taking her feelings or concerns into account. It shows up the sheer inequality that women were forced to abide by in this era, condemning the act of any woman putting up with abuse just because her prospective partner is rich, and criticizing a society that could possibly favour said inequality. For the 1800s, her speech is pretty FairForItsDay, and you're not going to find anything closer to feminism until Creator/AnneBronte's ''Literature/TheTenantOfWildfellHall'' and Charlotte's ''Literature/JaneEyre'' came on the scene. [[note]]Not in respectable fiction, anyway (nothing written by Lady Wollstonecraft or Aphra Benn really goes into that genre). Well, apart from Richardson's 'Clarissa', or some of Shakespeare's characters...[[/note]]

** Mary Crawford has many traits in common with Elizabeth Bennett: she’s lively, witty, cheerful, high-sprited, friendly, and a little disregardfil of propriety. She’s a nice enough person when it doesn’t inconvenience her, and is kinder to Fanny than most of Fanny’s family. However, she’s self-centred and lacks any strong sense of principle, which makes her very difference from Elizabeth.