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Podcast: Reading Jane Austen
Episode: S03E05 Mansfield Park: Episode 5, Chapters 17-21
Description: In this episode, we read Chapters 17 to 21 of Mansfield Park. We talk about Fanny’s moral trajectory during the theatricals, Mary’s casual acceptance of Henry’s behaviour with Maria, the cliffhanger ending of Volume 1 in the first edition, and Fanny’s question to Sir Thomas about the slave trade (with Harriet’s theory as to why she asked it).We talk about Sir Thomas, first considering how he is presented in the text, and then how we reconcile this with the fact that his estate in Antigua is worked by enslaved people. Ellen looks at the clergy, in...