Mansfield Park

Mansfield Park is the third published novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1814. The novel tells the story of Fanny Price starting when her overburdened family sends her at age 10 to live in the household of her wealthy aunt and uncle, through to her marriage. The publication of the novel by Thomas Egerton was well received by the public and a second edition was published in 1816 by John Murray still within Austen's lifetime. The novel received no critical notice at the time of publication; the first particular notice was in 1821, in a favourable review of each of the published novels by Jane Austen. The critical reception from the late 20th century onward marks Mansfield Park as Austen's most controversial novel as it briefly mentions the British slave trade and touches upon the issue of Sir Thomas owning a plantation in the West Indies, with others not finding this trip to Antigua as anything other than a plot device for Sir Thomas's long absence. Sir Thomas is the uncle and benefactor of Fanny Price in the novel. The late Edward Said criticized the novel for not adding clarity to its critique of Sir Thomas for the profits which he and his son had reaped from his plantation holdings in the West Indies. Paula Byrne, writing in the 21st century, finds this to be one of the best novels by Austen, and calls it pioneering as it is about meritocracy.