Quote:
Originally Posted by Billi
I'm reading the book for the second time and enjoy the re-reading very much until now. I have a (maybe silly) question, but the answer seems very important for the morals of the book.
I don't understand exactly why is it sooo wrong that the young people in Mansfield Park are having a theatre performance? Is it more a general question of decorum (grown ups of the gentry or higher circles don't do this, for children it was allowed and encouraged) or is it specifically because they take such a possession of the house of Sir Thomas in his absence?
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That's an excellent question--in fact a question that goes to the core of the novel. {I'll use spoilers in case some haven't got to the theatrical yet.
I got most of that from a brilliant essay on
Mansfield Park by Tony Tanner. It was originally the introductory preface to the first Penguin edition and was highly regarded enough to be added as an appendix in the later Penguin Classics edition. It is very fine--but it does give spoilers--so beware of reading it until you know the book.
However, I think I can safely mention a couple points which are helpful. Tanner mentions that Mansfield Park is a symbol of order and stability. Against it stand London and Portsmouth. There are three groups of characters:
1.The Guardians-those who are meant to protect the values and traditions of Mansfield Park
2. The Inheritors--those who will continue these values into the next generation
3. The Interlopers--individuals from the outside world who consciously or otherwise introduce inimical concepts into the natural order of duty and justice of Mansfield Park.
While Tanner's character division is schematic, it has a very useful function in following the moral themes in the book.