Imperialism in the Mansfield Park

Abstract

The works of Jane Austen mostly focus on the emotional entanglements of characters and it seems that they never get involved in social ideology and political consciousness. Her novel Mansfield Park focuses on the growth of the heroine Fanny Price: from a neglected young girl to be adopted to finally marry the second young master of the estate, Edmund Bertram, and become the spiritual mistress of the Park. However, in fact, this story contains Jane Austen’s strong imperialist ideology. The heroine Fanny’s growth process is also the process of continuous assimilation by the imperial ideology. Antigua provides the economic support for Mansfield Park and helps the people at the manor to establish the superiority of the hierarchy. At the same time, it is with the economic support of Antigua that the two young ladies of the estate are able to marry into wealthy families. This paper focuses on the colonial thoughts of Fanny and the description of locations in the novel.