I think it’s interesting to note music’s appearance in literature. I have a small (maybe growing) “Books” category on the blog. I don’t necessarily want to go super in-depth on the books, but I would like to share some finds with you! Today focuses on Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park.
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I recently finished re-reading Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park (you can download the ebook free from Project Gutenberg). I believe I first read it as an ebook, but then I picked it up at Goodwill, the same trip I got Love Does. It took me a long time to get through the novel this time around, but I think that had a little to do with not being in a big reading phase. Anybody else go back & forth between reading & not reading? And preferring ebooks or hard copies?
Mansfield Park follows Fanny, a young lady who has been sent to live with some relatives. She isn’t always treated the best there, but once she visits her parents’ house, she misses Mansfield Park. It’s kind of the typical 18th-century virtuous young lady who isn’t appreciated, then ends up in a great marriage story. But I suppose I’ve got kind of a soft spot for those. (I completed an MA in English, & my area of interest was 18th-century British literature, so that makes some sense.)
Anyway, did you know there’s a harp in the book? The harp doesn’t appear a whole lot through the story, but Mary Crawford plays it. I don’t want to spoil the story, but she’s “friends” (note the quotation marks) with the main character Fanny, & Fanny’s cousin Edmund also plans to marry her. There’s much more to the story than that though.
After a quick search in Roslyn Rensch’s Three Centuries of Harpmaking, it looks like Miss Crawford would probably have been playing a harp similar to this Erard single action pedal harp. In my search for an image, I came across this interesting article, which supports my idea. 🙂
Mansfield Park Quote Art Print (with harp!)
Also, I’ve got an art print* up in the Fischarper Society6 shop* of a quote from Mary Crawford with a harpist line drawing. (Original line drawing by John Flaxman, courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington.)
(I’m not sure the exact origin of the art prints, but Society6 said their products are “produced and shipped from multiple production facilities across the United States, Australia and Europe” that “follow all legal and ethical guidelines in regards to production, employment and waste management.”)
Rather purchase the file & print it yourself? Pick up the image file in the Fischarper Teachers Pay Teachers store!
If you purchase the art (digital or printed), be sure to snap a photo & share on social media so we can see how you display it!
Are you a Jane Austen fan?
Did you know there’s even a piano/harp/soprano trio called The Austen Trio?
Are you an “Austenite”? Let me know your favorite Jane Austen work in the comments section below!
-Barbara
Barbara Fischer runs Fischarper, LLC and loves her job as a harpist and private music educator. She enjoys blogging about various aspects of the music field on fischarper.com/blog. For more music resources, check out the Fischarper store. Find out where you can find Barbara on the interwebs here. And you can sign up to receive Fischarper updates by joining the email list.