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Personification
Definition of Satire
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of satire, but satirists can take... read full definition
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of... read full definition
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians... read full definition
Key Examples in Mansfield Park
Chapter 2
Explanation and Analysis—Lady Bertram:
Like her sister Mrs. Norris, Lady Bertram is a character through whom Austen satirizes the wealthy aristocratic class. Lady Bertram is not cruel to Fanny the way that Mrs. Norris is, but embodies another element of the upper classes that Austen playfully mocks: laziness (and, relatedly, frivolousness). Lady Bertram’s satirical nature becomes clear at the start of the novel when the narrator introduces her to readers:
To the education of her daughters, Lady Bertram paid not the smallest attention. She had not time for such cares. She was a woman who spent her days in sitting nicely dressed on a sofa, doing some long piece of needle-work, of little use and no beauty, thinking more of her pug than her children, but very indulgent to the latter, when it did not put herself to inconvenience.
Related Themes:
Chapter 3
Explanation and Analysis—Tom Bertram:
Austen chooses to present Fanny’s cousin Tom as an exaggerated character whose only interests (for much of the novel) are gambling, drinking, and partying. With Tom, Austen is satirizing the entitled first-born sons of wealthy aristocrats who know that their inheritance will protect them from the effects of their actions.
Related Themes:
Chapter 11
Explanation and Analysis—Dr. Grant:
With the character of Dr. Grant, Austen is satirizing hypocritical clergymen who care more for luxury and overindulgence than for morality and piety (a critique that was common in her day). As Austen has the character Mary note in conversation with the Bertrams, Dr. Grant’s primary fixation is on decadent meals prepared by his wife:
Unlock with LitCharts A+And though Dr. Grant is most kind and obliging to me, and though he is really a gentleman, and I dare say a good scholar and clever, and often preaches good sermons, and is very respectable, I see him to be an indolent selfish bon vivant, who must have his palate consulted in every thing, who will not stir a finger for the convenience of any one, and who, moreover, if the cook makes a blunder, is out of humour with his excellent wife. To own the truth, Henry and I were partly driven out this very evening, by a disappointment about a green goose, which he could not get the better of. My poor sister was forced to stay and bear it.
Related Themes:
Chapter 15
Explanation and Analysis—Mrs. Norris:
Mrs. Norris is an exaggerated character Austen uses for satirical effect; her non-stop mistreatment of Fanny simply because of her class background turns her into a stand-in for classist wealthy aristocrats more broadly. Mrs. Norris doesn’t merely look down on Fanny, but terrorizes and criticizes her any chance she gets. This becomes especially clear when Mrs. Norris tries to force Fanny to participate in the production of Lovers’ Vows:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“Do not urge her, madam,” said Edmund. “It is not fair to urge her in this manner.—You see she does not like to act.”
[…]
“I am not going to urge her,”—replied Mrs. Norris sharply, “but I shall think her a very obstinate, ungrateful girl, if she does not do what her aunt and cousins wish her—very ungrateful indeed, considering who and what she is.”
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