Monsterfield Park
| Monsterfield Park | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Author | Jane Austen |
| Cover artist | Mr David Weaver, RA |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | Metropolitan (Whitehall, London) |
| Publication date | 1811 |
| ISBN | N/A |
Monsterfield Park is the fifth novel by the English novelist Jane Austen. Published in 1811, it is generally regarded as a low point of her career, presaging Perversion's descent into pornography and the subsequent controversy over Pride and Prejudice.
The plot revolves around Fanny Price, a young girl from a relatively poor family who is raised by her rich uncle and aunt, Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram, at Monsterfield Park. She grows up with her four cousins, Tom, Edmund, Maria and Julia Bertram. All four are spoiled in comparison to her and the only one who treats her with any kindness is Edmund. When the children are all grown up, Sir Thomas leaves for a year to look after his marijuana plantation in Antigua. Shortly afterwards, the worldly Henry Crawford and his sister Mary arrive and begin to flirt with the Bertrams, although Fanny has concerns that they may in fact be zombies.
At this point, the novel leaves behind any sense of conventional narrative far behind, to the extent that several commentators have suggested that the disparaging reference to Sir Thomas' plantation may be less of an indication of Austen's disapproval of the slave trade than a hint of whatever Austen was having to consume in order to keep up with her editor's punishing schedule. Suffice to say that there is much bloodletting and savagery before all is resolved during an ill-fated amateur production of Elizabeth Baldinch's play The Lovely Vowels (an unusual meditation on grammar after death), during which the Crawfords are despatched and Edmund finally gets his hands on Fanny.
Curiously, the book has been adapted for the cinema more often than any other Austen novel, perhaps because the very lack of a plot makes it easier for each interpreter to project their own particular concerns onto the story. The most famous adaptation is the 1966 musical The Price of Fanny (or Fanny at any Price) starring Tommy Steele and featuring songs by Anthony Newley, including the much-loved I Saw a Zombie in Carnaby Street.
More recently, J J Abrams' 2008 blockbuster Monsterfield attempted to spice up the desperately thin storyline by shooting with handheld cameras. However, the resulting class action by audience members suffering from extreme motion sickness is rumoured to have wiped out the entire profits of the production. It is probably best to draw a veil over the very latest adaptation, Zombies in Big Momma's House (2011), whilst noting that it won a special award at the Golden Raspberries for the
worst instalment yet in an already horrifically bad franchise.[citation needed]
It is also noted for being the only one of Austen's works to have been turned into an opera. I Coli (1878) by the Italian composer Giacomo Rigatoni relocates the action to ancient Egypt for no good reason and is notable for the aria La tua manina è scesa al largo ("Your tiny hand has dropped off").
Critical appraisal
Monsterfield Park was savaged by the critics. Even Joseph Robert Brighouse, who could usually be relied upon to defend Austen, commented that
I would rather MASTICATE my own EARLOBES than wade through any more of this EXCREMENT.
See also
- The Price of Fanny (or Fanny at any Price) (film)
- Monsterfield (film)
- Zombies in Big Momma's House (film)
Further reading
- Filth, Eric. The Oxford Companion to Literary Fannies. Oxford University Press, 2003.
