While better known for Pride & Prejudice, Emma, and Sense & Sensibility, Jane Austen wrote Mansfield Park, a novel that garnered differing critical interpretations, but still intrigued readers even today. The 1999 film adaptation does capture some of the original novel’s ideas, such as Fanny’s modesty, the Cinderella-like submissiveness as means for survival, and the quiet strength to remain as herself, but it also expands on certain elements that were mostly only alluded to in the original, such as the elements pulled from Jane Austen’s actual life and her own sympathies for anti-slavery. While the film isn’t fully faithful to the original novel and should be considered its own, Mansfield Park does retain some of the essentials that makes it distinctly Austen.
Synopsis
Fanny, born into a poor family, is sent away to live with wealthy uncle Sir Thomas, his wife and their four children, where she'll be brought up for a proper introduction to society. She is treated unfavorably by her relatives, except for her cousin Edmund, whom she grows fond of. However, Fanny's life is thrown into disarray with the arrival of worldly Mary Crawford and her brother Henry.
Storyline
Born to a poor family, Fanny Price is sent away to live with her wealthy uncle Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram, to improve her prospects. She’s unfavorably treated by the family, except for her cousin Edmund, however, this shifts when the family is introduced to the beautiful and worldly siblings named Henry and Mary Crawford.
TLDR
It's not a terrible adaptation, and it's intriguing to know that Austen sympathized with the abolitionists, but it does feel a bit disjointed relegating it only as a subplot.
What stands out
A lot was changed. Purists beware.
