The Sleepy Bookshelf: Just Jane - Mansfield Park, Part 1 of 36

Deep Sleep Sounds

In the first episode of 'The Sleepy Bookshelf: Just Jane,' host Elizabeth begins reading Jane Austen's 'Mansfield Park' in a soothing, calmi

Key takeaways

• Fanny Price's move from her impoverished home to the affluent Mansfield Park marks the beginning of her journey into a world where she feels out of place and emotionally isolated.

Main topics

• Class differences in Regency England
• Emotional isolation and identity formation

Notable quotes

"She could scarcely swallow two mouthfuls before tears interrupted her, and sleep, seeming to be her likeliest friend, she was taken to finish her sorrows in bed."

Conclusion

The episode establishes a poignant and introspective tone, setting up Fanny Price's

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) Hey, it's Tom. I'm excited to share with you the newest show from Slumber Studios. It's called Sleepy History, and it's exactly what it sounds like. Intriguing stories, people, mysteries, and events from history, delivered in a supremely calming atmosphere. Explore the legend of El Dorado, see what life was like for the Roman gladiators. uncover the myths and mysteries of Stonehenge. You'll find interesting but relaxing episodes like these on Sleepy History. So check it out, and perhaps you'll have another new way to get a good night's rest. Just search Sleepy History in your preferred podcast player. Speaker 2 (0:52) Good evening, and welcome to the Sleepy Bookshelf, just Jane. Speaker 2 (1:00) where we put down our worries from the day and pick up a good Jane Austen book. I'm your host, Elizabeth, and I'm so pleased you joined us tonight for this first season of our new show. Now, if you've been around for a while, you might know that we started The Sleepy Bookshelf in 2021. And since then, we've been keen to find some new ways to help you get a good night's sleep. Speaker 2 (1:36) Now, we know that you enjoy Jane Austen, because you often return to her classics like Pride and Prejudice and Emma. So, we decided to create this dedicated space for all things Jane. And here we are. Now, the format of the show will remain very similar. We'll start with a brief introduction, a deep breath to calm our minds. Speaker 2 (2:10) And a recap of the last episode, so you don't need to worry about drifting off and missing anything important. Then, we'll get into the story, just as before. So, let's take that moment now, tonight, for the deepest breath you've had all day, in through your nose and out through your mouth. Wonderful. Now, tonight, we're going to be beginning Mansfield Park. Speaker 2 (2:50) It's a story about a young girl named Fanny Price who leaves her modest home to go to stay with her wealthy relatives in the grand halls of Mansfield Park. It's full of Jane Austen's characteristic wit as she pokes fun at the upper classes of Regency England. It's got some interesting and complicated romances. Speaker 2 (3:21) And it's going to be perfect for us. Can't wait to begin. So, why don't you sit back and relax. And soon enough, you'll be fast asleep. While I turn to the first pages of Mansfield Park. Chapter 1. About 30 years ago, Miss Mariah Ward of Huntingdon, with only 7,000 pounds, had the good luck to captivate Sir Thomas Bertram of Mansfield Park in the county of Northampton and to be thereby raised to the rank of a baronet's lady with all the comforts and consequences of a handsome house and large income. All Huntington exclaimed on the greatness of the match. and her uncle, the lawyer himself, allowed her to be at least three thousand pounds short of any equitable claim to it. She had two sisters to be benefited by her elevation, and such of their acquaintance as thought Miss Ward and Miss Francis, quite as handsome as Miss Maria, did not scruple to predict their marrying with almost equal advantage. Speaker 2 (5:15) But there certainly are not so many men of large fortune in the world, as there are pretty women to deserve them. Miss Ward, at the end of half a dozen years, found herself obliged to be attached to the Reverend Mr. Norris, a friend of her brother-in-law with scarcely any private fortune. And Miss Frances fared yet worse. Speaker 2 (5:44) Miss Ward's match, indeed, when it came to the point, was not contemptible, Sir Thomas being happily able to give his friend an income in the living of Mansfield, and Mr. and Mrs. Norris began their career of conjugal felicity, with very little less than a thousand a year. Speaker 2 (6:10) But Miss Francis married, in the common phrase, to disoblige her family, and by fixing on a lieutenant of marines, without education, fortune or connections, did it very thoroughly. She could hardly have made a more untoward choice. Speaker 2 (6:33) Sir Thomas Bertram had interest which, from principle as well as pride, from general wish of doing right, and a desire of seeing all that were connected with him in situations of respectability, he would have been glad to exert for the advantage of Lady Bertram's sister. But her husband's profession was such as no interest could reach. and before he had time to devise any other method of assisting them, an absolute breach between the sisters had taken place. It was the natural result of the conduct of each party, and such as a very imprudent marriage almost always produces. To save herself from useless remonstrance, Mrs. Price never wrote to her family on the subject till actually married. Speaker 2 (7:31) Lady Bertram, who was a woman of very tranquil feelings, and a temper remarkably easy and indolent, would have contented herself with merely giving up her sister, and thinking no more of the matter. But Mrs Norris had a spirit of activity which could not be satisfied till she had written a long and angry letter to Fanny to point out the folly of her conduct and threaten her with all its possible ill consequences. Speaker 2 (8:05) Mrs. Price, in her turn, was injured and angry, and an answer which comprehended each sister in its bitterness and bestowed such very disrespectful reflections on the pride of Sir Thomas, as Mrs. Norris could not possibly keep to herself, put an end to all intercourse between them for a considerable period. Speaker 2 (8:33) Their homes were so distant, and the circles in which they moved so distinct, as almost to preclude the means of ever hearing of each other's existence during the eleven following years, or at least to make it very wonderful to Sir Thomas that Mrs Norris should ever have it in her power to tell them, as she now and then did in an angry voice. that Fanny had got another child. By the end of 11 years, however, Mrs. Price could no longer afford to cherish pride or resentment, or to lose one connection that might possibly assist her. A large and still increasing family, a husband, disabled for active service, but not the less equal to company and good liquor, and a very small income to supply their wants, made her eager to regain the friends she had so carelessly sacrificed. and she addressed Lady Bertram in a letter which spoke so much contrition and despondence, such a superfluity of children, and such a want of almost everything else, as could not but dispose them all to a reconciliation. Speaker 2 (10:00) She was preparing for her ninth lying in, and after bewailing the circumstance and imploring their countenance as sponsors to the expected child, she could not conceal how important she felt