Constancy and the Ethics of Jane Austen's 'Mansfield Park'

7. Constancy and the Pursuit of Truth

182 182 Chapter Seven Constancy and the Pursuit of Truth y ThequestionoftruthisvitaltothisreadingofMansfieldParkinthree important ways. First, there is the pursuit of truth represented by the conversations—both internal and external—of characters in the novel. There is the truth—or realism—of that representation itself, as manifest by specific narrative techniques (especially with dialogue) of which Austen is an innovator. Finally, there is the larger truth—as effected by a combination of the first two—that conveys itself to the reader. Constancy plays a role in all three expressions of truth. It grounds the right pursuit of truth—enacted by Fanny—whose “hermeneutical” habit and growing clarity of vision contrasts with the inflexible blindness to truth in those around her. In some instances, constancy—in particular its development—also is enacted by Austen’s use of narrative techniques ; the reverse—the lack of its development—may also be suggested thereby. Finally, from the process of reading and responding to the novel’s truth, readers may approximate a kind of constancy that allows them to grow in self-knowledge—discovering truths about themselves that may lead to transformation. Constancy, Conversation, and the Pursuit of Truth “‘There is a great deal of truth in what you say,’ replied Sir Thomas .”1 Sir Thomas’s first spoken words in Mansfield Park announce one 1. MP 7, emphasis added. 183 Constancy and the Pursuit of Truth 183 of Jane Austen’s central preoccupations in all of her novels: truth in conversation. As the characters go about the business of their everyday lives—such “business” as parenting, estate management, visits, dinners, balls, and walks—the pursuit of truth is represented through three kinds of conversation: a single character’s silent conversation or inner dialogue, spoken conversation that occurs between characters in the novel, and the implicit conversation in which the reader and the narrator/author participate by means of narrative commentary on the characters’ thoughts, speech, and actions. Austen’s narrative reveals that, to some extent, all characters in pursuit of truth are susceptible to certain errors, to certain kinds of blindness .2 “Austen’s most prestigious antitheses” are, according to D. A. Miller, “blindness versus understanding, ignorance versus knowledge , error versus truth.”3 Sir Thomas, Mrs. Norris, the Prices, and, to a lesser degree, Edmund manifest the error of believing they know the truth and failing to question it. Maria and, to a lesser degree, Julia and Tom manifest the error of believing they are the locus for truth and questioning nothing beyond themselves. Mary and Henry Crawford manifest the error of believing that there is no stable or enduring truth, substituting for it the “truth” of their wit or imagination. Only Fanny Price consistently struggles against these errors in others and in herself. The primary theme of this reading of Mansfield Park is that constancy must ground the search for truth if it is to overcome, to the greatest degree possible, the errors that accompany this pursuit. What we tell ourselves, what we tell others, and what others tell us become less reliable without constancy, for neither tradition nor reason, neither sentiment nor the self, provides a sufficient or reliable ground for reality. Austen’s art demonstrates what is necessary to aim for truth: the right sense of humility, which causes us to question continually the accuracy of our personal insight or understanding; and constan2 . The novel is “‘about’ certain mental attitudes, and about types and degrees of moral blindness and moral awareness and their consequences.” Moler, Jane Austen’s Art of Allusion , 126. 3. D. A. Miller, Narrative and Its Discontents: Problems of Closure in the Novels of Jane Austen (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1981), 20. 184 184 Constancy and the Pursuit of Truth cy, which provides a reliable context and law against which this insight may be tested, corrected, and guided. Without this twofold operation to guide the understanding, errors concerning truth lead over time to lapses in judgment and, eventually, to serious and devastating consequences. The origins of the word “truth” reflect two of Austen’s primary preoccupations : constancy and marriage. The Saxon root, treowth, translates as both “truth” and “troth.” The Danish getrouwheid translates as “fidelity,” and its root, trouw, as “trust, faith, fidelity, hence trouwen, to marry.”4 The origins of the word suggest that marriage, as an institution , represents a seeking after truth, and that truth in marriage, as a founding...