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Mansfield Park and Lovers’ Vows
By Jane Austen, August Kotzebue and Elizabeth Inchbald
Narrated by Catherine Bilson, Graham Scott, Sarah Jane Rose, Denis Daly, Linda Barrans
The unlikely heroine of the novel is the bashful and unadventurous Fanny Price, who occupies a Cinderella-like position in the residence of her wealthy cousins, the Bertrams, at Mansfield Park. Fanny is the butt of ridicule by the young Bertram sisters Maria and Julia, and is relentlessly bullied by her manipulative and penny-pinching aunt, the widowed Mrs Norris. Maria, Julia, and their brother Tom, are symbols of social irresponsibility, while the other son, Edmund is earnest and upright. Although Sir Thomas’ wealth is derived largely from a sugar plantation in the West Indies, Austen largely avoids discussion of slavery and the other evils of colonialism.
The young Bertrams form a close friendship with the dashing and unscrupulous Henry Crawford and his glamorous sister Mary. Henry decides to pursue Fanny with a view to marriage, but she, discerning his devious nature, resists all his advances.
After a visit to her family in Portsmouth, Fanny returns to Mansfield Park, and finds herself attracted to the worthy Edmund, who is recovering from a rejection by Mary Crawford. Eventually, the two marry, the only young couple in the novel to form a stable relationship.
Mansfield Park is unusual in that it features the abortive amateur production of a popular sentimental drama, Lovers’ Vows, planned by members and friends of the Bertram family, while Sir Thomas is absent in the West Indies. His unexpected return brings these plans to an abrupt halt.
This recording also includes a multicast presentation of Lovers’ Vows.
In the play, the widowed Baron Wildenheim, by a twist of circumstances, comes into contact with a poor woman whom he had abandoned when he was a young man. Subsequently, the Baron had married a wealthy woman, with whom he had a daughter, Amelia. Unknown to the Baron, his first relationship resulted in the birth of a son. He is now faced with the decision about how he is to acknowledge his new-found son and the young man’s mother. At the time the plot was considered controversial because of the issue of illegitimate children.
