Male primogeniture is alluded to throughout Mansfield Park as it was the inheritance system in place in England at the time. Male primogeniture worked as follows: a father’s entire fortune would go to his first-born son or, if he did not have a son, it would be passed down to his closest male relative. If men were childless, they would often set money aside for their nephews who were born after the first son so that they were not left with nothing.
The purpose of this system was for the family estate to stay intact though, in practice, it often led to problems, such as it does for the Bertrams. Tom—as the first-born son—has a gambling problem at the beginning of the novel and does not seem like a trustworthy choice to ensure the estate’s survival the way that Edmund would be. Not only is Tom a poor choice regarding inheriting his family’s estate, he has gambled so much that Sir Thomas uses resources his brother has set aside for Edmund in order to get Tom out of debt. This leaves Edmund with only two options (as it did for many males who were not first in the birth order): to join the clergy or to become a soldier. He chooses to join the clergy.
Also notable is that the male primogeniture system is the reason that all of the young women in the novel are focused on finding wealthy partners, as they are not legally allowed to inherit anything based on their sex.
When the Crawfords and Bertrams visit Mr. Rushworth’s estate and receive a tour from his mother, the narrator makes an allusion to the “window tax”:
Having visited many more rooms than could be supposed to be of any other use than to contribute to the window tax, and find employment for housemaids, “Now,” said Mrs. Rushworth, “we are coming to the chapel, which properly we ought to enter from above, and look down upon; but as we are quite among friends, I will take you in this way, if you will excuse me.”
The window tax was a British tax put into practice in 1696 as a way for the government to tax wealthier people at a higher rate (akin to a property tax). Because the tax was based on how many windows a given property had, people eventually started boarding up windows or constructing homes with very few windows.
This passage is also an example of verbal irony because the narrator does not actually believe the windows were installed so that the Rushworth family would be more heavily taxed. Austen uses sarcasm here to communicate the sheer number of windows and size of the estate, which also comes across in Mrs. Rushworth’s attention to details in her extensive tour (such as which way they ought to enter the chapel).
Before Maria and Henry decide to jump the gate at Sotherton, Maria mentions to him that she feels restrained like “the starling”:
“You have undoubtedly—and there are situations in which very high spirits would denote insensibility. Your prospects, however, are too fair to justify want of spirits. You have a very smiling scene before you.”
“Do you mean literally or figuratively? Literally I conclude. Yes, certainly, the sun shines and the park looks very cheerful. But unluckily that iron gate, that ha-ha, give me a feeling of restraint and hardship. I cannot get out, as the starling said.”
This is an allusion to a famous passage from Laurence Sterne’s 1768 novel A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy. The main character is trapped in France, threatened with time in prison, and hears someone calling “I can’t get out!” He ultimately traces the shouts to a starling trapped in a small cage, who he is unable to release.
As jumping the gate represents Maria’s desire to escape the confinement of her engagement to Mr. Rushworth (and join Henry in the process), here Maria is—perhaps unconsciously—comparing her situation of being engaged to Mr. Rushworth to the starling being trapped in a cage (and to the main character of Sterne's novel being threatened with imprisonment). This says something about the way that women, at this time in history, were forced to prioritize financially advantageous marriages rather than romantic love and could feel trapped in the process.
Though Austen steers clear of overtly discussing politics in Mansfield Park, she alludes to the Napoleonic Wars taking place at the time via the inclusion of characters who are in the Navy, specifically Fanny’s brother and father. She also includes a moment when Mary comments on the “heroism” of military members (comparing them, in a somewhat sarcastic way, to people who choose to join the clergy):
“No, my dear Miss Price, and for reasons good. The profession, either navy or army, is its own justification. It has every thing in its favour; heroism, danger, bustle, fashion. Soldiers and sailors are always acceptable in society. Nobody can wonder that men are soldiers and sailors.”
What is hidden beneath Mary’s casual mention of the military is the reality of the Napoleonic Wars. During the Wars (which lasted from 1803–1815), the French Empire—led by Napoleon—sought to dominate and invade much of Europe, and England responded by sending troops and mobilizing their navy to defend against the attacks. The severity of the war—and bravery of the military members—is part of the reason that Mary’s claim that “soldiers and sailors are always acceptable in society” likely rang especially true for those reading Austen’s novel at the time it was published.
This quote is also significant because it shows how Mary respects people fighting in the war more than she respects clergy—one of the reasons she keeps Edmund at a distance.
Near the beginning of the novel, the Bertrams and Crawfords (along with Mr. Yates and Mr. Rushworth) decide to put on a play called Lovers’ Vows. This is an allusion to an actual play written in 1798 by Elizabeth Inchbald that was controversial due to themes related to sex before marriage and children born out of wedlock. Austen likely chose the play for these very reasons, knowing that her readers (at the time she was writing) would be aware of the controversy.
Edmund’s reaction to the play shows that he is aware of the controversial themes and reluctant to have his sisters participate, fearing it improper:
“I must now, my dear Maria, tell you, that I think it exceedingly unfit for private representation, and that I hope you will give it up.—I cannot but suppose you will when you have read it carefully over.—Read only the first Act aloud, to either your mother or aunt, and see how you can approve it.—It will not be necessary to send you to your father’s judgment, I am convinced.”
The whole ordeal with Lovers’ Vows—which is ultimately moot since Sir Thomas Bertram eventually forces them all to stop the production—foreshadows future romantic entanglements: Henry and Maria play opposite each other in romantic roles (foreshadowing their eventual affair), Edmund eventually agrees to participate because Mary does (foreshadowing how he falls for her despite her lack of morals), and Fanny refuses to participate at all (foreshadowing how she does not fall for the Crawfords’ charms the way Edmund does).
There are several allusions to the slave trade in Mansfield Park. First, Sir Thomas Bertram’s business in Antigua that takes him away from Mansfield Park early in the novel is undoubtedly tied to plantations worked by enslaved people. Based on the time in which the novel was written, it’s likely that he owned one or more sugar plantations on the island which was, at the time, a British colony.
The one time that the slave trade is mentioned directly is when Fanny tells Lady Bertram about how she asked her uncle about the trade after he returned from Antigua:
“You are one of those who are too silent in the evening circle.”
“But I do talk to him more than I used. I am sure I do. Did not you hear me ask him about the slave trade last night?”
“I did—and was in hopes the question would be followed up by others. It would have pleased your uncle to be inquired of farther.”
“And I longed to do it—but there was such a dead silence!”
Here, Fanny explains that she tried to engage her uncle on the subject of the slave trade, but was nervous about asking follow-up questions because “there was such a dead silence.” This silence may be due to the Bertrams’ discomfort with addressing the role they were playing in the continued enslavement of people when Abolitionist sentiment in England was at an all-time high.
The “Sir” in “Sir Thomas Bertram” (and “Lady” in “Lady Bertram”) is an allusion to the British hereditary honors system, specifically to Sir Thomas’s position as a “baronet.” The British hereditary system (also called the “peerage” system) was a way of differentiating nobility from common people for many generations. Baronet is a unique rank because the title does not make one part of nobility but does place one above knights.
Despite the somewhat arbitrary nature of this system—it was mostly based on access to wealth rather than character—British people had stories about what it meant to be from a certain rank. This comes across near the end of the novel when young women in Portsmouth judge Fanny due to her connection to a Baronet:
The young ladies who approached her at first with some respect in consideration of her coming from a Baronet’s family, were soon offended by what they termed “airs”—for as she neither played on the piano-forte nor wore fine pelisses, they could, on farther observation, admit no right of superiority.
This quote makes it clear that to be a young woman from a family with honors comes with certain expectations, such as playing the piano, wearing fancy clothes, and having an air of superiority. The satirical tone with which Austen captures the townspeople’s opinions of Fanny (judging her, as they do, simply because she does not play the piano) is a subtle way in which she critiques the honors system. The novel, after all, is about Fanny’s moral superiority, and how that stems from the fact that she very much does not think of herself as superior to others.
