Mansfield Park Love Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #7

[Henry] was no longer in doubt of the capabilities of her heart. She had feeling, genuine feeling. It would be something to be loved by such a girl, to excite the first ardours of her young, unsophisticated mind! She interested him more than he had foreseen (24.20).

Even the flirt Henry finds himself falling for Fanny. However, the diction here, such as "it would be something" and "interested," imply that Henry's love for Fanny is still a bit like an exciting game to him. Fanny is a challenge to Henry and is something like a prize to win.

Quote #8

Did she love him well enough to forego what had used to be essential points – did she love him well enough to make them no longer essential? (26.11).

Falling in love may not be a choice, but what to do after falling in love often is a matter of choice. Here, Mary has to decide if she's willing to sacrifice certain desires and aspects of her character in order to be with Edmund.

Quote #9

"I cannot give her up, Fanny. She is the only woman in the world whom I could ever think of as a wife" (44.2).

Edmund's bold statement about Mary suggests that he's willing to work through whatever differences they have in order to marry her. As we discover by the novel's end, though, Edmund still really wants Mary to change and isn't ultimately willing to compromise himself.