"Dead Silence"

Edward Said in “Culture and Imperialism” is quite right in emphasizing the economic dependence of the Mansfield estate on colonialism thereby making slavery and the slave owner one of the most critical concerns of the novel, Mansfield Park. Antigua in the novel is not only the personal piggy bank for the Bertrams but is also the home of riches where Lady Bertram can get valuable shawls. Yet no one in the novel except Fanny questions the on-goings in Antigua and her attempt to discuss the pressing issue with her uncle is also followed by “dead silence” while his children sit “without speaking a word”. This silence shows Sir Bertram’s position of not being answerable to his subjects but more importantly reveals his shameful dependence on a business that he would prefer to pass over in silence. Any answer would not be a satisfactory one for Fanny who dared to question the position of the oppressed people in Antigua and neither for her uncle who would have to expose himself as vulnerable and in front of the domestic slave of Mansfield Park. In fact Sir Bertram’s indifference or neglect of his colonized subjects is evident in the fact that the term ‘slave’ is never used in the novel by the slave owner, his family or the narrator. It is only used by Fanny as she gives an account of her conversation with her uncle to Edmund saying, “Did you not hear me ask him about the slave trade last night?” Thus Sir Bertram’s silence becomes even more significant as it highlights the moral indifference of Fanny’s younger cousins and their father to the slaves and in doing so puts the concerned Fanny on a higher moral pedestal. We also see Edmund as the other good character when he encourages Fanny to spur more such inquiries as it would make the “family’s evening conversation more – not less – comfortable.”

Later in the novel when Sir Bertram seems eager to discuss the issue, she doesn’t want to pursue the topic anymore for she too realizes that her position in the household hierarchy does not allow her to do so. When his own children remain silent on their father’s ethical interests and economic projects, there Fanny feels uncomfortable talking about Sir Bertram’s colonial holdings and wealth. She does not want to ruin the civil relationship with her uncle and indicates to Edmund a possibly happy association saying, “I love to hear my uncle talk of the West Indies....It entertains me more than any other things have done.”Therefore, we see a forced silence on Fanny’s part as she shuns any possible discussion on her uncle’s slaves keeping in mind her fragile existence in his household.

Austen's image of the Colony in Mansfield Park.

If one is to look at the role that the colony plays in Austen’s Mansfield Park, then he/she will have to look at the picture that Austen paints of the Bertram family and their social standing as well as their attitudes towards it.

As Said says:

“Sir Thomas’s overseas possessions- … -give him his wealth, occasion his absences, fix his social status at home and abroad, and make possible his values to which Fanny Price (and Austen herself) finally subscribes.”

Given that Sir Thomas’s status is derived mostly out of his colonial possessions, and the underlying plot of the novel is Fanny Price’s social mobility to the status enjoyed by the Bertram family, the role of the colony is of utmost importance. The colony is the source of Bertram wealth and power. Moreover, as per Said, "the right to colonial possession helps directly to establish social order and moral priorities at home".Which means that the whole theme of morality that exists in MP is a direct function of the Colony possession.However,the colony only exists as a source of the said wealth and status. It is a possession to be owned, its people however do not merit any consideration. They are just there and they should have nothing to say. As Said says:

    "The universalizing discourse of modern Europe and the United States assume the silence, willing or otherwise, of the non European world. ... But there is only infrequently an acknowledgement that the colonized people should be heard from, their ideas known."

Assuming the silence of the colonized, Austen, like most of the other British writers of that time paints the Colony with a very imperialistic brush. The picture of the colony which Austen paints goes hand in hand with the British national narrative i.e.

1) its good to have a colonial plantation or two if you are willing to put up with the colonised; 

2) Colonies are a good place for fripperies like shawls and the sort; 

3) Colonies must make money and give us power otherwise what is the point.   

Given this context, what can be concluded is that a colony is a vastly important possession to have. As for the question of the colonized- there is nothing to ask or tell- they are a people “without history”. (Or in many cases they are not even a people- so don’t be impolite by asking about those sad colored things.)

The Colony in Mansfield Park

Edward Said criticizes the treatment of colonies in nineteenth century British novels. The novel, “fundamentally tied to bourgeois society”, presents the upper class ideals of English nationalism while simultaneously reinforcing British imperialism. Colonial expansion is not only presented in a positive light but considered a necessity for the colonizer in order to maintain a certain lifestyle.

As Said points out, the colony, Antigua in the case of Mansfield Park, though significant to the novel itself is only mentioned in passing. The name is used only when absolutely necessary, which comes out to a total of nine times in the entire novel. Other than references to Sir Thomas’ business affairs and travels Antigua is referred to once: when discussing “different modes of dancing” at the ball. Not only are Lord Bertram’s actions in the colony irrelevant but the very idea of Antigua as a colony is ignored. The colony is merely a topic for idle conversation, or, in Fanny’s opinion “entertain[ment]”.

The topic of slavery has been given somewhat similar treatment. The word slave is first used by Fanny when she reminds Edmund of Sir Thomas ignoring her question about it. Since Sir Thomas is not presented as the moral compass anyway, his lack of response only shows his true nature when it comes to compromising principles. On the other hand, Fanny’s desire to question her uncle’s morality, one she is evidently indebted to, is a contrast. Slavery is relevant only to the extent that it is used to define the characters, or as Said put it: “importance of empire to the situation at home”.

            While the novel does seem to have an unapologetic tone, Said writes that it is unreasonable to “expect Jane Austen to treat slavery with anything like the passion of an abolitionist or a newly liberated slave”. However, her casual use of the word slave is quite unforgivable [“Miss Crawford was not the slave of opportunity”]. At a point in time when slavery was very much a reality, such a use of the word seems insensitive. Although slavery in England was not banned till 1833, slave trade had already been abolished, which suggests that opposition to slavery did in fact exist at the time.

            Judging from the slave narrative of the novel, Jane Austen was very much aware of slavery at her time. She, however, chose to highlight the position of women within England rather than addressing the issue of imperialism itself. Her own attitude, towards the institution of slavery, might not have been in line with cosmopolitanism.

Colony in Mansfield Park: The role of Antigua in the novel.

The luxury of Mansfield Park and the life that Fanny Price is able to live there is sustained by the estate in Antigua. Said argues that, “what assures the domestic tranquility and attractive harmony of one, is the productivity and regulated discipline of the other.” Because, Lord Bertram is managing his colonial plantation, his domestic estate can survive; domestic sustainability can only be achieved if the colonial lands provide for them. However, Said fails to question the “disharmony” that exists at Mansfield and Fanny’s place within it.

The constant mention of Antigua means that the colonial narrative is ever present in the readers’ consciousness. However, Said feels that the slight references to Antigua do not do justice to it. Sir Thomas’s colony is isolated from his family which remains millions of miles across the globe. And Said has a fair problem with that. We hear of the slave owner, not the slave so, the slave is just a far off entity whose presence is implied and whose work results in prosperity for Lord Bertram. Even Jane Austen focuses on this issue in Lady Bertram’s treatment of India as a place only good for the commodities it can offer, “I may have a shawl. I think I will have two shawls. His ultimate point is that the ‘Antigua’ seen in Mansfield Park is no more than a place for work, necessary for obtaining personal luxuries and fortune for the locals of Britain. Austen does not deny this in her novel, but she does not shout about it either.

Said also portrays Fanny and Lord Bertram as having a more compatible relationship than actually present. In fact, Fanny defies Bertram’s wishes in her choice to marry Edmund, further when she questions him about the slave trade, and is met with “dead silence”, it seems that in fact she is not accepting it, but is implying a connection with the slavery practiced in Antigua and the paternal practice of selling off one’s female dependents into matrimony, to gain social standing.

Said is of the view that, “Jane Austen sees the legitimacy of Sir Thomas’s overseas properties as a natural extension of the calm, the order, the beauties of Mansfield park, one central estate validating the supportive role of the peripheral other” which is quite true since, the money to sustain the estate and provide domestic sustainability is provided by the colonial estate. Hence, we can say that Austen references to Antigua and colonialism are definitely complicit in normalizing ideas of empire in the British consciousness.

That conflicting thing called 'Abroad'

In projecting what Raymond William calls a 'knowable community' of Englishmen and women, Jane Austen, Gorge Eliot and Mrs Gaskel shaped the idea of England in such a way as to give it identity, presence and ways of reusable articulation. And part of this idea was the relationship between "home" and "abroad". Thus England was surveyed, evaluated, made known, whereas "abroad" was only referred to or shown briefly without the kind of presence or immediacy lavished on London, the countryside or northern industrial centres such as Manchester or Birmingham.
(Culture and Imperialism, Edward Said)
There's this painting of queen Elizabeth I(on the right) in which she has her hand lightly resting on the globe, not furiously clutching or anxiously holding on to it, rather the hand is delicately put on the globe as if recognizing it's presence and her ownership of  it. I couldn't help but think that it was exactly in line with the idea of "abroad" represented in the Eighteenth century British novel. Novelists don't hold on to "abroad" like their story depends on it rather "abroad" like a ghost hovers in the air, recognised and mentioned in passing a couple of times. This ghost in a way assists to establish the reality of "home" which becomes all the more real due to the presence of the unreal ghost.
This idea is affirmed by Said in the argument in the quoted passage above. Said rightly asserts that the "immediacy" of the reality of home is made all the more striking due to the presence of abroad "which is only referred to". This argument applies well to Mansfield Park. Though Antigua, Sir Thomas's estate, is the place which provides "identity" and "presence" to Mansfield Park but it is only shown in the slightest of ways to the point that we, as readers, hear of Sir Thomas's letters home but are never presented with evidence of those letters because of their connection with "abroad".
 But with regard to Said's argument, I felt that there's a salient nuance in the relationship of "abroad" and "home" which has been missed, that is, the idea that abroad is a natural extension of home. This same idea would propel a monarch of England to show ownership of the globe because the monarch- by extension then, becomes an authority for abroad as well; England becomes the Great Empire. Abroad then in a sense is not that which is non-home but that which is in a twisted way, is under the ownership of the home, is important for the economic betterment of home; yet in the imagination of the residents of home it is a far flung reality. Maybe that's reading too much into it. But then abroad is a conflated entity, lurking somewhere between the home and non-home- at least in the British colonial sensibility.

The Colony in the Novel: Fanny as a colonized subject

“The Bertrams slave plantation in Antigua is mysteriously necessary to the poise and the beauty of Mansfield Park” (Said).

Jane Austen positions the colony in the setting of Mansfield Park in a very pointed manner to depict how Sir Thomas treats his business in Antigua in a casual behavior. She highlights this attitude through the minimal references being made to Antigua. Said quotes Mill about the purpose of the colonies and states that the colonies are “to be considered as hardly anything more than a convenience” (Said).

A link can be made to a post-imperialist setting if a parallel is drawn with Fanny Price – the colonizers never considered the colonies as independent nations and the colonies were still regarded as weak and disadvantaged afterwards as well. Fanny Price moved from a small space to a large one, but at the end of the novel she is still situated in Mansfield Park and continues to serve Sir Thomas and his family. After all, social mobility is only possible to a certain extent.Apart from Antigua as a reference to a colony, Portsmouth can also be seen as a colony. Fanny Price moved from Portsmouth to Mansfield Park to serve Lady Bertram, similar to the fashion in which the British colonies served Britain in terms of material goods and manpower.  When the Bertram’s initially made the decision to take up the responsibility for Fanny in their home, it can be suggested that this signified the success Sir Thomas would face in his business in Antigua. Similar to Antigua, Fanny was an investment which proved worthy in the end when Edmund decided to marry her.

With this analysis of Portsmouth as a colony and Fanny’s upward movement to Mansfield, it is interesting to note how throughout the novel Lady Bertram makes several mentions of how she cannot do without Fanny’s services.  When Fanny journeys back to Portsmouth Lady Bertram feels the need for Fanny in Mansfield; colonizers show a dependency towards the colony for their personal well being – how else will Lady Bertram get her shawls and where from?!

As Edward Said stated, “the metropolis gets its authority to a considerable extent from the devaluation as well as the exploitation of the outlying colonial possession.”

The emancipation (read Anglicization) of the colonized subject: Fanny Price

The Bertram household functions as a microcosm for the nation. When she arrives at Mansfield Park as a ten-year-old, she is immediately relegated to an inferior status. As the cousin of the Bertrams, she is brought to the household for a chance at a better life. Yet Mrs Norris immediately implies that "it is not at all necessary that she should be as accomplished as you are; -- on the contrary, it is much more desirable that there should be a difference". And each one of them sure throughout the course of the novel that she remains different. She lives in the attic; potential husbands are always suggested for Maria and Julia. Fanny always remains on the sidewalks. This is especially highlighted in the incident at Sotherton when the group goes into the wilderness and Fanny is left alone on the bench while Edmund and Miss Crawford foray into the woods: "She watched them till they had turned the corner, and listened till all sound of them had ceased." She is always portrayed as week and suffering from poor health, a notion the imperialists always connected with the colonized subject and his surroundings. By way of such a representation, the master also successfully lent effeminate characteristics to the colony. And thus rendering the subject and the colony incapable of taking charge for himself or worthy of Liberty. Amidst the politics of imperialism, as Gayatri Spivak writess, "the voice of the colonized female is lost between the object-constitution of imperialism, marked by the espousal of the woman as object of protection from her own kind". 

She is constantly reminded of the indebtedness she must feel towards the Bertrams for they have provided for her needs and made her who she is. her prior education and knowledge is looked down upon, "her cousins found her ignorant of many things with which they had been long familiar". "They thought her prodigiously stupid" for she "cannot put the map of Europe together -- or my cousin cannot tell the principal rivers in Russia".  

She only becomes mistress of the house, the caretaker of the matters when she is married to Edmund. In all of this as well, what Austen by way of her inherent Englishness is trying to reinforce is that only those who get trained in the English ways, totally and submissively give in to the subjugation of the master, do as they do and say, can the subject be hopeful of achieving some autonomy and freedom. "In [Susan’s] usefulness, in Fanny’s excellence, in William’s continued good conduct, and rising fame, and in the general well-doing and success of the other members of the [Price] family, all assisting to advance each other, and doing credit to his countenance and aid, Sir Thomas saw repeated, and for ever repeated reason to rejoice in what he had done for them all, and acknowledge the advantages of early hardship and discipline, and the consciousness of being born to struggle and endure." The colonial master has successfully civilized the barbarian, the native. The emancipated Fanny, with a mind that has by now been deeply colonized describes her mother and her household in these words, "She must and did feel that her mother was a partial, ill-judging parent, a dawdle, a slattern, who neither taught nor restrained her children, whose house was the scene of mismanagement and discomfort from beginning to end."