A marriage grants individuals’ entry to the upper class of society on the condition that they marry a member of nobility. If a legal wedding does not take place, they must return to their social class. This is the story of one couples’ unique journey.

 

Edmund and Fanny are preparing to meet the Bertrams at their estate in Mansfield Park.

 

Edmund: So today is the day I’m going to introduce Fanny as my fiancée to my family.

 

Edmund: Ready to meet the family?

Fanny: Yeah.

 

(Cut to Fanny)

Fanny: I’m so nervous to meet Edmund’s family again… because they don’t know we’re engaged.

 

(Cut back to Edmund and Fanny preparing.)

Edmund (voiceover): I wanted to wait until she got here, until everything was real, and you know, until they could meet her in person.

 

Edmund: My mom, and then my older brother jake, his wife, and my younger brother Jamie, and his girlfriend, and

 

Fanny: Ed, I don’t know about this I’m getting more nervous now.

Edmund: No, you’ll be fine. I promise. They already know you.

Fanny: That’s what I’m worried about.

 

Edmund: I mean, well, you know, there’s my sisters, Maria and Julia.

Fanny: My biggest fear is meeting Maria and Julia again, the sisters. Not to mention Mrs. Norris.

 

(Cut to flashback of Fanny’s childhood at Mansfield Park)

Maria: You really don’t know any French?

Julia: And what’s with your clothes? Don’t you have anything else to wear?

 

(Cut back to Edmund and Fanny preparing)

Edmund: Yeah, no. You don’t have to worry. I’m here for you.

 

The couple embrace and prepare to leave.

 

Fanny: Ok, I’m ready.

 

(Cut to the Mansfield Park Estate, where the Bertram family is waiting in a large open room.)

 

Edmund: So, you remember cousin Fanny.

 

(Cut to Edmund alone)

Edmund: I just introduced Fanny again to my family, but they don’t really know we’re engaged. So I’m hoping they don’t overreact.

 

(Cut back to the gathering at Mansfield Park)

Tom Sr.: So Fanny, anything new?

Edmund: She is my fiancée.

 

(Cue dramatic music, shots of shocked faces all around, Fanny tries to shrink into the background.)

 

(Cut to Tom Sr. sitting next to Lady Bertram staring blankly)

Tom Sr.: You think something that big, you know, having a fiancée, that he would have dropped some hints, and he didn’t. He didn’t drop one hint. Not to mention her expectations should’ve been different.

(Cut back to the gathering at Mansfield Park)

Tom Jr.: You don’t tell your family huh?

Edmund: I just did

Tom Jr.: Yeah, but-

Edmund: Of course, I was going to tell you guys.

 

Julia: So, she’s staying here?

Edmund: Ok well, I don’t know. I wanted to check with you guys first.

 

(Cue more dramatic music, and more shots of shocked faces all around.)

Maria: So, this is- you’ve never- how long- what’s the length of time you’ve spent together?

Edmund: Not long, but we did grow up together.

 

Mrs. Norris: We’ve never heard anything about this person, we don’t know a thing about her. All I know is that she looks and sounds poor. How are we supposed to trust her?

 

Maria: We want to know your intentions for the future.

Fanny: Um… I love Edmund so much. I want to make your son and brother happy.

Tom Sr.: I can tell. I can tell, and I believe you are sincere.

 

Maria: What would you do for work?

Edmund: She’s well read-

Maria: But she doesn’t work right now, I guess.

 

Tom Jr: Did you tell your family you met a cousin?

(Awkward laughs)

 

Maria: Do they know you’re engaged? Does your family know?

Fanny: Yes. My family-

 

Maria: Where do you plan to live?

Edmund: With me. (Confused chuckles follow.)

 

Maria: You want to live here in Mansfield Park?

Fanny: I would like to, but if we can’t, that’s ok. I’ve been looking around and I really like Parsonage.

Maria: Parsonage? (Scoffs)

 

(Cut to Edmund and Fanny in private)

Edmund: We sat down, and it was just kind of like, questions non-stop

 

(Cut back to the gathering at Mansfield Park)

Maria: Why didn’t you tell anybody?

Edmund: I wanted her to be here before I told you.

Maria: No offense, but why is this now?

 

Edmund: It’s about us, its our relationship, it’s about us.

Edmund (Looks to Fanny): Let’s get out of here.

 

(Cut to Edmund and Fanny in private)

Edmund: You know, I wish they just said congratulations, and left things like that

Fanny: I feel bad and awkward

 

(Cut back to the gathering at Mansfield Park)

Maria: She’s using him

Tom Jr.: For what?

Maria: For his status.

Tom Jr.: His status as king?

Maria: She’s using him to move up to where she doesn’t belong.

Tom Jr.: What? So what?

Mrs. Norris: She ought to know her place. The obstinate and ungrateful little girl.

Tom Sr.: I just wish Edmund had told us. It’s bound to fail.

Reflection:

Jane Austen was such a forward thinker that many of her themes and ideas have come across as progressive and relatable, even in modern times. Or perhaps because of the way the ideas are presented, Austen benefitted from being a prolific writer that was able to change the course of human consciousness in a way that would lead people to keep discovering the universality of her works. It was through this phenomenon that I noticed similarities in the presentation of Austen’s thoughts and ideas in Mansfield Park and the format of the popular reality TV series, 90 Day Fiancé.

90 Day Fiancé is a show that covers some of the relationships that benefit from the utilization of the K-9 visa, or a marriage visa, in which couples must get married within 90 days of receiving one in order to remain together in the country. While this idea does not tie directly to the idea of how marriage is approached in Mansfield Park, I found it interesting to imagine the similarities between the two formats in how they present outside influences, most notably family dissent and approval.

The beginning of the show includes a brief blurb on what the K-9 visa is used for, and an introduction to the show. I included a rewritten version of this applicable to the marriage of Fanny Price and Edmund Bertram to highlight the connection and the parody.

In 90 Day Fiancé, a lot of cuts are implemented to provide the viewer with a running narrative of the main character’s thoughts and feelings. And while a lot of people in the show may not say their feelings outright, oftentimes the audience is treated to their thoughts through cuts to just them, or candid shots where they might not realize they are being recorded. I chose to copy this idea and add in the candid thoughts of the Bertram family at the end.

All the family members have something to say about the relationship based on their position on social mobility in the book. Mr. Bertram believes that Fanny should know her place as “not a Miss Bertram”, meaning that her expectations and rank will always be different to his own children. As he says, “There will be some difficulty in our way, Mrs. Norris…as to the distinction proper to be made between the girls as they grow up… how, without depressing her spirits too far, to make her remember that she is not a Miss Bertram… they cannot be equals. Their rank, fortune, rights, and expectations will always be different.” However, I believe he would be ultimately sympathetic despite his concerns because he himself married a woman below his social station. Maria and Julie are always looking to cause problems, especially because they see Fanny similarly to their father, that Fanny is less intelligent as them and inferior. And of course, Mrs. Norris is hateful and cruel to Fanny regardless of who she is to marry, it just happens that this is a good opportunity to attack her again. She sees Fanny as lesser and thinks that Fanny should acquiesce her free will to appease her betters who are so “kind” to her by allowing her to live with them, otherwise calling her “obstinate and ungrateful”.

I think that despite all this and the abuse at the hands of her family, Fanny would still want to remain respectful and kind, eager to please her fiancé and her in-laws. Much like the fiancées who move entire countries away from their families to be with their partners, I believe that Fanny finds herself in a similar position of having to find her new family with the in-laws. And to further the parallel, like most of the partners on the show who move from other countries, she finds that her life will be improved, at least economically, by moving to her partner. Austen mentions that “Would they but love her, she [Fanny] would be satisfied”.

One big reason the family looks down on Fanny is for her lack of knowledge and education. Fanny falls behind her cousins in terms of knowledge because she had a lack of education as a young child, but everyone around her see this failing as her own personal one. Mrs. Norris takes the time to bring this to the attention of Maria and Julia, explaining that Fanny is just not as smart as they are. Again, we can see parallels between this and 90 Day Fiancé, in which family and friends judge the incoming partner for failings beyond their control, like a lack of grasp on English, or a failure to understand certain norms and traditions in the United States, despite many of the new faces having been in the United States for less than a week prior to meeting these people. When Fanny is first introduced to her more affluent family, she realizes that she is not equipped to speak the new language used by the higher class. She is tired and overcome and misses her family back home. While these are all the emotions felt by a young Fanny Price, they are also universal enough that we see the same feelings in participants on the show.