Jane Austen discussion

This is the thread for discussing the character of Maria, Julia, and Tom Bertram in Mansfield Park.

Mrs. Norris is blamed for their behavior but I think their parents are more to blame for not disciplining their children and not supervising the girls.

Tom is a typical young buck of the town but he's approaching middle age and needing to get steady. All three children have been indulged too much and don't have any respect for their father or their family name. Tom's illness is a crucial turning point for him and I wish his development had been fleshed out more and there was less of Edmund whining about Mary.

Maria is the worst of the three. She wants to marry Henry Crawford and he doesn't come up to scratch. Her father gives her an out with Rushworth and she doesn't take it. She has only herself to blame for her unhappy marriage. If Crawford wouldn't marry her the first time why will he the second? She displays selfish stupidity in running away with him.

Julia's actions are downright stupid but I think she has a more lively temperament than her sister and can stand being the wife of that foppish Yates. I can see them going their separate ways and being fine with that.

I think that Julia learned from Maria's behavior and won't be as selfish and stupid as Maria, too. And wasn't it Julia who came to Fanny's defense when aunt Norris called her lazy? I think she had a better heart than Maria to begin with and her scare over Maria's stupidity will make her a more steady woman.

I love this character analysis. These three Bertram children are all a mixed bag and I would love to get into all three. I shall start with Tom.
Tom is the typical first son. A young man who was given all the privilege of this top position on the food chain. He was allowed to go to town, mix with all the other young men of privilege and idleness and pick up all their typical bad habits. This is never more clearer than when his father calls him in and lectures him about his gambling and overspending in which he "owned" to it. His father was shocked at Tom's honesty but in the end kind of writes off the injustice to Edmund for the rest of his life. He allows his plantation to take some of the blame. After his encounter with his father, he reacts that this is no more than his friends have done. This position of cossetting Tom took a little detour for the moment for he was untrustworthy to Sir Thomas and was taken promptly to the Indies to help him recoup his estates there. This action in the story allowed the sisters to blossom into the more carefree characters they wanted to be without Sir Thomas' more stricter hand. It was during this time that Fanny was allowed to come out more than just the poor servant cousin.
With the premature return of Tom to England and Mansfield, he and his sisters were able to continue to act in an unbridled way. With the entrance of Mary and Henry Crawford into the society of Mansfield, the young people were all carefree and had a good time together with the express joy of Lady Bertram and Aunt Norris. For "dear Maria" was engaged (to a very stupid very rich young man) Tom once more returned to London to his carefree rich friends and brought home a very unusual friend, Mr. Yates. He was the vehicle into the foray of acting in a silly play. Tom was almost uncontrollable in his fancy to go all over the village getting people to act and to build a stage for the play "lovers vows". Edmund tried to reason with him and he was somewhat effective but instead of reigning Tom in, Edmund gets talked into acting along with them.
Throughout the story Tom continues his carefree ways to his detriment of becoming very ill at a friend's house and was even left behind with only servants to attend him. He was found and almost died. I believe that this brush with near death caused Tom to think twice and mature. He had little choice for he was left very weakened from his illness. He was very affectionate to his cousin Fanny. But he was very boisterous at times which seemed to unsettle her for she had none of the smart ways of society that the other Bertrams had. He and Henry seemed to get along just fine for they were two of a kind. It really doesn't go into what became of Tom at the end of Mansfield Park but I have a sneaking suspicion that Tom would always be that priviledged first son and allowed to spend money like it was water and gamble and do those things that was characteristic for him to do, for unless he had to by necessity, he would not curb his ways, society was not in that vane of changing young men's temperament and actions. If he were to marry, he would do as nearly all young first born sons do, he would marry a nice acceptable girl which means she had lots of money. It really didn't matter just who she is. But in considering what happened to the sisters, maybe Sir Thomas had learned his lesson to not assume thing only by station and looks. There were other thing to consider besides how things "look".

Maria Bertram was the eldest daughter. Jane doesn't say her status by date of birth, whether she was in between any of the boys but I myself took for granted that she and Julia came behind the boys in order of birth. Maria and Julia even as young girls were taught by their parents that they were special and were to be treated with deference and Aunt Norris carried this through with prejudice and gusto. They were the daughters of "Sir" Thomas Bertram. I believe a "sir" is very low on the aristocratic ranking scale, but he is peerage nonetheless. She was cosseted by Aunt Norris and spoiled and told she was right all the time and given preference over Fanny when she came to live with them. She and her sister looked down on Fanny and her general ignorance in the schoolroom. But the children grew up together and played together but there was always the deference to Maria and Julia. Fanny was the daughter of their mother's sister, poor sister who married a no name sailor who had very bad expectations and even worse as the family expanded at a prodigious rate. I believe Maria loved Fanny as a cousin but custom dictated how she was to treat Fanny as did all the Bertram children except Fanny's beloved Edmund.
As Maria and the other children grew up, their preferential treatment was tempered by Sir Thomas's firm hand. When he sailed away to his plantation for what they knew was to be a very prolonged absence, a huge sigh of relief and calm settled over Mansfield for the young people, not so much for Fanny or by Edmund but for the other three. Their psychosomatic sickly mother was practically no type of parent and was consumed with her own illness or what had become her disability of lying on the couch all day long making everyone cater to her. Aunt Norris took up the slack. The arrival of the new vicar in the parsonage uprooting Aunt Norris made her that much more the parent, who promised Sir Thomas she would look after everyone at the Park. Not long after Sir Thomas' departure, there was a ball which the young people were to attend.(except Fanny of course) Aunt Norris schemed from the beginning to "pop" Maria off and get her attached to the wealthy young man Mr. Rushworth. All came home after the first night and it seems that Maria had made a conquest of this youngman. Maria was young and impressionable but I believe she knew just how the world worked. She wanted to get out of that house and the constraints of her father and the illness of her mother and the bothersome Aunt Norris. She knew that a wealthy young man was what was required so she let no time grow and when she met the acceptable person, she knew this was it. The ball was not fully described or the details of what happened there, only that Maria had made an impression and Aunt Norris gushed and told the mother that all would be accomplished if she would just visit Mrs. Rushworth. Before we know it, "Dear Maria" was engaged. Love or respect was not required for Maria, only the money and the trappings of a London house and estate and the ability to "rule" over this clueless young man. She probably was the only girl who gave him the time of day but she had accepted him.
I don't think that Maria ever thought about regret of her actions until Henry Crawford came upon the scene. He was handsome and charming and flirtatious with both her and Julia and so there was a rivalry for his affections. She was always "one uping" her sister in everything. And although Henry knew she was engaged, he continued his flirtations to her unabashed. It may have been that Maria was the beauty of the family. She continued to encourage him in front of Rushworth. This was evidenced by the trip to Rushworth's estate so he could receive advice on how he should improve it and Henry was ever ready to give his. Maria showed her true colors on that trip in leaving her fiancé and walking off with her lover. (not lover in sense of sex, but one who likes or loves her) She certainly played Rushworth like a fool for it was after he went for the gate key that he found out her cruelty and poor Fanny was there to console him. Fanny knew her cousin well. Her treatment of Rushworth was horrible, but when in the company of the handsome Henry, she couldn't help herself. The "event" of the practicing of lines with Henry that Fanny witnessed, showed that she wanted Henry and gave him encouragement. Henry acted very badly with Maria but I do not blame him entirely. The stupidity of Mr. Rushworth became cleared as this play went on. No wonder Maria fell into Henry's arms. It was Henry's cavalier treatment of the tenderness they had shared for a moment that may have broken her heart just a little.
Upon her father's return, he saw the improbability of Maria being happy with her choice and gave her a way out but little mercenary Maria was in no way backing out. I truly believe in her mind she thought she could have it all, prestige and lovers. Rushworth was so stupid. She had to put up with his overbearing mother, but she got her independence and the companionship of her sister. I believe she married Rushworth to spite Henry. But as we know, Henry had other irons in the fire and was busy seducing Fanny.
When she saw Henry again in London, he had just come from a very non encouraging Fanny in Portsmouth. He was itching for some dalliance and there was Maria so beautiful and open to him. He took his chance and what happened next changed both of their lives as well as the lives of the family. It was scandal. She had to escape with Henry and he took her away from her husband. In all of this her sister Julia followed her lead and ran off with Yates. But Maria didn't think. She had always been used to being preferred and able to get her way. Her overinflated idea of self importance deceived her. Did she think the consequences of her actions would not come back to haunt her and hurt her family? It caused a divorce and the loss of Henry for they didn't stay together. The whole family felt her humiliation. Her careless actions caused the one thing she wanted most, acceptance by society and love. She was not accepted back home and she ended up with a miserable woman to live with, Aunt Norris.
Maria was like lots of young women of the time, pressured to make a good match. She saw her beauty as her asset. She took the first man that was before her. A stupid man would do. She could influence him as she could. Maybe she was just feeling her way in the world she lived in and had observed how women behaved. She didn't know what love was until Henry and he was an expert at love. She was out of her bounds and didn't know how to act with propriety with being engaged and carry on with a lover. She met her match in Henry. She was a passing fancy and he flirted with Julia just as he did with her. Who knows what happened on that walk at Rushworth's? They had gone through that gate. I can imagine the tender love made by Henry unobserved, I believe he led her up to a certain point but never really crossing the line of propriety. He was an expert at knowing where to cross the line. But needless to say, both probably had a very intimate time together. I don't believe it would have stopped if her father had not come home.
I see Maria, after several years being accepted back home, maybe after a death. Maybe Aunt Norris. I think she received financial backing from her family in order to survive, and we all know how resourceful Aunt Norris always was. But I get a little evil thrill when I think of Maria and Aunt Norris living together. Aunt Norris with all her economy and force of will and Maria yearning to be free of restraint. But she was dead to society so where could she go? Italy or France or maybe even the Indies plantation of her father would be a better place for her than her spot in England. But with Aunt Norris accompanying her, no place was safe. Maria was just a spoiled selfish girl who got her just rewards.

Julia Bertram. What can one say about Julia? I believe she was the youngest girl and fought for her place along side of Maria. I believe she was the scrappiest sister. I believe she could argue amongst the best of them. Julia did not find her place until she became a teenager. She and Maria grew up in the household and given deference to poor Fanny, but as I mentioned, the girls were always told of their place in the world, they were "Sir" Thomas Bertram's children. They were always right. Hardly punished, but I believe Julia and the others loved little Fanny. But they never put her above the status of poor relation. Julia's defense of Fanny when Fanny fell asleep on the couch proves she had a voice. She defended Fanny to Aunt Norris. She may have been a little like Edmund for Edmund had a very solitary individual voice. Perhaps Julia was the sensitive sister. Perhaps she defended the injured bird or mistreatment of Pug when she was little.
She too felt relief when her father left for the extended period. She wanted less restraint and the overwhelming hard eye her father gave when they had done wrongly. He was a very strong advocate of propriety and morals. We know teens today want to stretch their independence from their parents and this was the same in Mansfield.
Sister rivalry appeared with the arrival of the Crawfords and Henry Crawford was handsome and "by rights, belonged to her, for "dear Maria" was engaged and off the market. But it would seem that Henry didn't quite get the picture. He flirted with Julia but he also flirted with her sister. Yet they would talk about his virtues and about him being "dark and plain". She struggled for prominence with him above Maria. Even in the trip to Rushworth's there was an argument about where she would sit. She was left out when everyone took their walk and she escaped from the "horrible mother". She found that Henry and Maria had gone off together. She was fit to be tied. She couldn't get past Henry's flirtation with Maria and her shocking acceptance of it. She didn't understand Henry's feelings that an engaged woman was safe for her future was fixed. There was no risk of her heart or his. With Julia, his heart could be fixed so even though Mary told him that he should like Julia best, he would agree that he liked Julia the best but he didn't mean a word of it. She was, to her, humiliated further when the little troop decided to act out "lovers vows". There was a certain coveted role she wanted to play that Henry wanted the lovely Maria to play. She got mad and withdrew completely for even acting in it. She took the side of Fanny on the opinion of it not being done. I think her angry huff made her bite off her nose to spite her face as it is said. She had no opportunity to be around Henry. There would be no more dreams of her getting with him. I think she just came to the realization that there was no hope for her with him, which there really wasn't for Henry. He would not like Julia best. I think she found a little glee when she told the whole cast that her father had arrived home. They all knew that there would be an end to the play. She was not afraid of him!
Julia followed Maria when she married Rushworth. It gave Maria companionship and Julia a way of escaping home and her father. She is not heard from again until she does something as outrageous as her sister in running away with Yates. But, Julia married her lover. Yates was not a heartthrob like Henry but he was an available young man and he did pay her attention. It was never mentioned anything about any interaction with them when he was at Mansfield, only that they ran off together after her sisters elopement. Jane Austen never mentions anything about the relationship because Fanny was the main character. But I would love to write a story about Julia and the others outside of the main plot.
Julia and Yates married, unlike Maria and Henry because Maria was already married. There was no safe route for her and Henry. And although it broke her family's heart, it was not as bad as Maria's scandal. And it does say that the family takes her back in and she is able to return home.
I think that her elopement was a competition with her sister. She was not to be upstaged! It may have not been so important the groom, but that there was an actual groom. We don't know a lot about Yates, only that he was pretentious and annoying and dramatic. He went from house party to house party and wiled away his life. With all probability, Yates was a second son. He and Tom were friends so their interests were of the same vane. He came out of nowhere to fulfill a place in the plotline of Jane to advance the story but in the end, he returned with a vengeance by simply being in London in the same proximity of Julia. I can see them meeting at various parties, dinners and balls. They would have talked and gotten to know each other and maybe took solace in each others company. Maybe they found very common interests. A lot happens
"off screen" so to say. I believe there was much more to little Julia than Jane put pen to paper to write. I do hope her marriage was a happy one and hope she does not regret it in the long run for she acted in haste.