Marriage. The End.

In all of the novels we have read thus far, the last chapter involves the marriage of the protagonist.  Sometimes this marriage is unexpected, sometimes this marriage is deserved.  Regardless, the motives of these marriages tend to derive from the female protagonist’s need to marry for money and status.  Mansfield Mark begins with the marriage of the Ward sisters.  Throughout Mansfield Park, marriage is the topic of many conversations and the center of many motives.  Edmund is infatuated with Mary and almost proposes to her, and in the first half of the novel, he cannot talk to Fanny about anything other Mary.  Maria, the first actual marriage in the novel, elopes, and in turn, Julia marries Yates.   Both of these marriages are unforeseen and happen very quickly in the plot.

On the contrary, Fanny does not marry until the very end of the novel.  Throughout the novel, Fanny is reminded of her inferior status and it is evident her only way out is through marriage.  However, when Henry tries to get her to fall in love with him, he ends up falling in love with her.  He asks her repeatedly for her hand in marriage, but she always refuses.  While I was often frustrated with Fanny’s passiveness, her ability to say no was astounding.  In this way, Fanny defies traditional social practices.  In the end, Fanny’s patience is rewarded at the conclusion of the novel when she and Edmund get married.  The narrator writes that Fanny is finally happy and the two return to Mansfield Park.  While the marriage secures Fanny’s social status, it is also a relationship built out of friendship rather than money.  In doing so, Austen comments on the shallow nature of marrying for money and the importance of marrying for love and friendship.