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Definition of Motif
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the central themes of a book... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of... read full definition
Chapter 3
Explanation and Analysis—Alcoholism and Addiction:
Addiction appears in the novel a few times, forming a motif. As a motif, addiction suggests a character is weak-willed and ill-mannered, and also ties them to the vices present in urban life. For example, Fanny’s cousin Tom is addicted to alcohol and gambling and also cares only about himself. Tom’s father Sir Thomas Bertram states this directly in Chapter 3 after he is forced to use money reserved for Edmund to pay off Tom’s gambling debts:
“I blush for you, Tom,” said he, in his most dignified manner; “I blush for the expedient which I am driven on, and I trust I may pity your feelings as a brother on the occasion. You have robbed Edmund for ten, twenty, thirty years, perhaps for life, of more than half the income which ought to be his […] Nothing can, in fact, be an equivalent for the certain advantage which he is now obliged to forego through the urgency of your debts.”
This passage shows how Tom doesn’t care about the effects of his gambling addiction, such as stripping Edmund of his inheritance. It’s noteworthy that Tom only becomes a kinder and more moral person after almost dying due to over-drinking in London. It's only after he faces life-threatening consequences of his addictions that he is willing to change his ways.
Fanny’s father is also an alcoholic, which Fanny comes to learn upon visiting her parents near the end of the novel. As she learns about his alcohol use, she also discovers that he is a selfish and unpleasant man. The narrator describes him the following way in Chapter 39:
He swore and he drank, he was dirty and gross […] he scarcely ever noticed her, but to make her the object of a coarse joke.
Not only is Mr. Price a drunk, but he is physically unclean and makes inappropriate jokes about his daughter. Austen intentionally wraps all of these qualities up together to suggest that addiction and an ill-mannered personality go hand in hand.
Related Themes:
Chapter 15
Explanation and Analysis—Acting:
Acting comes up at several points throughout the novel, forming a motif. As a motif, acting denotes deceit and hidden motives. As the most moral character in Mansfield Park, Fanny is often the only one who can see beneath other peoples’ performances.
Acting as a motif appears for the first time when the Bertrams, Crawfords, and their friends decide to put on the play Lovers’ Vows. Fanny resists participating in the play, and explains why in the following exchange with Mr. Rushworth in Chapter 15:
“If you are afraid of half a dozen speeches,” cried Mr. Rushworth, “what would you do with such a part as mine? I have forty-two to learn.”
“It is not that I am afraid of learning by heart,” said Fanny, shocked to find herself at that moment the only speaker in the room, and to feel that almost every eye was upon her; “but I really cannot act.”
The fact that Fanny resists participating in Lovers’ Vows because she “cannot act,” hints that, unlike the others, she is committed to always being straightforward and honest. She does not mention it to her cousins or friends, but another reason she does not want to participate is because of the inappropriate sexual themes (another way in which she is positioned as more morally correct).
Acting also comes up in Chapter 34 when Henry does an impressionable reading of Henry VIII when visiting Fanny at her parents’ home in Portsmouth. Here Fanny reflects on the reading:
To good reading, however, she had been long used; her uncle read well—her cousins all—Edmund very well; but in Mr. Crawford’s reading there was a variety of excellence beyond what she had ever met with. The King, the Queen, Buckingham, Wolsey, Cromwell, all were given in turn; for with the happiest knack, the happiest power of jumping and guessing, he could always light, at will, on the best scene, or the best speeches of each; and whether it were dignity or pride, or tenderness or remorse, or whatever were to be expressed, he could do it with equal beauty.—It was truly dramatic.
This passage shows how Henry is extremely skilled at acting and how in awe of him Fanny is. In fact, Henry's acting almost encourages Fanny to open her heart to him romantically. When Henry’s motives turn out to be duplicitous—just a few chapters later he has an affair with Fanny’s married cousin Maria—Fanny is grateful that she did not fall for him because of his performance.
Related Themes:
Chapter 34
Explanation and Analysis—Acting:
Acting comes up at several points throughout the novel, forming a motif. As a motif, acting denotes deceit and hidden motives. As the most moral character in Mansfield Park, Fanny is often the only one who can see beneath other peoples’ performances.
Acting as a motif appears for the first time when the Bertrams, Crawfords, and their friends decide to put on the play Lovers’ Vows. Fanny resists participating in the play, and explains why in the following exchange with Mr. Rushworth in Chapter 15:
“If you are afraid of half a dozen speeches,” cried Mr. Rushworth, “what would you do with such a part as mine? I have forty-two to learn.”
“It is not that I am afraid of learning by heart,” said Fanny, shocked to find herself at that moment the only speaker in the room, and to feel that almost every eye was upon her; “but I really cannot act.”
The fact that Fanny resists participating in Lovers’ Vows because she “cannot act,” hints that, unlike the others, she is committed to always being straightforward and honest. She does not mention it to her cousins or friends, but another reason she does not want to participate is because of the inappropriate sexual themes (another way in which she is positioned as more morally correct).
Acting also comes up in Chapter 34 when Henry does an impressionable reading of Henry VIII when visiting Fanny at her parents’ home in Portsmouth. Here Fanny reflects on the reading:
To good reading, however, she had been long used; her uncle read well—her cousins all—Edmund very well; but in Mr. Crawford’s reading there was a variety of excellence beyond what she had ever met with. The King, the Queen, Buckingham, Wolsey, Cromwell, all were given in turn; for with the happiest knack, the happiest power of jumping and guessing, he could always light, at will, on the best scene, or the best speeches of each; and whether it were dignity or pride, or tenderness or remorse, or whatever were to be expressed, he could do it with equal beauty.—It was truly dramatic.
This passage shows how Henry is extremely skilled at acting and how in awe of him Fanny is. In fact, Henry's acting almost encourages Fanny to open her heart to him romantically. When Henry’s motives turn out to be duplicitous—just a few chapters later he has an affair with Fanny’s married cousin Maria—Fanny is grateful that she did not fall for him because of his performance.
Related Themes:
Chapter 39
Explanation and Analysis—Alcoholism and Addiction:
Addiction appears in the novel a few times, forming a motif. As a motif, addiction suggests a character is weak-willed and ill-mannered, and also ties them to the vices present in urban life. For example, Fanny’s cousin Tom is addicted to alcohol and gambling and also cares only about himself. Tom’s father Sir Thomas Bertram states this directly in Chapter 3 after he is forced to use money reserved for Edmund to pay off Tom’s gambling debts:
“I blush for you, Tom,” said he, in his most dignified manner; “I blush for the expedient which I am driven on, and I trust I may pity your feelings as a brother on the occasion. You have robbed Edmund for ten, twenty, thirty years, perhaps for life, of more than half the income which ought to be his […] Nothing can, in fact, be an equivalent for the certain advantage which he is now obliged to forego through the urgency of your debts.”
This passage shows how Tom doesn’t care about the effects of his gambling addiction, such as stripping Edmund of his inheritance. It’s noteworthy that Tom only becomes a kinder and more moral person after almost dying due to over-drinking in London. It's only after he faces life-threatening consequences of his addictions that he is willing to change his ways.
Fanny’s father is also an alcoholic, which Fanny comes to learn upon visiting her parents near the end of the novel. As she learns about his alcohol use, she also discovers that he is a selfish and unpleasant man. The narrator describes him the following way in Chapter 39:
He swore and he drank, he was dirty and gross […] he scarcely ever noticed her, but to make her the object of a coarse joke.
Not only is Mr. Price a drunk, but he is physically unclean and makes inappropriate jokes about his daughter. Austen intentionally wraps all of these qualities up together to suggest that addiction and an ill-mannered personality go hand in hand.
Related Themes:
