- Maria Bertram
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Maria Bertram
Michelle Ryan as Maria Bertram in the Mansfield Park aired on PBS as "The Complete Jane Austen"Full name Maria Elizabeth Bertram Rushworth Gender Female Height Taller than her cousin, Fanny Price, but no specific height is given Age 13 at the beginning of the novel, about 21 at the end Income After marriage to Mr. Rushworth, £12,000 Education By a governess, by the name of Miss Lee Rank Daughter of a Baronet Primary residence Mansfield Park; after her marriage, Sotherton Court; after her divorce, somewhere in the countryside with her aunt Norris Family Romantic interest(s) Mr. Rushworth and Henry Crawford Parents Sir Thomas Bertram and Lady Maria Ward Bertram Children None Sibling(s) Thomas Bertram, Edmund Bertram, Julia Bertram Maria Bertram is a fictional character in Jane Austen's 1814 novel, Mansfield Park.
Contents
Character
Maria Bertram is not depicted as a sympathetic character. She does not have her father's discipline nor her brother Edmund's compassion, especially for her cousin, Fanny Price. She is condescending and gives Fanny the toys of the least value to her. She would also mock Fanny for her lack of knowledge and reports on Fanny's apparent deficiencies to her Aunt Norris. When she grows to adulthood, her attitude towards Fanny is not improved.
Maria and Mr. Rushworth
When Maria's father, Sir Thomas Bertram, goes to Antigua to improve the profits from his plantations, Maria, believing herself to have no prospects and being at the age to marry, becomes engaged to a young man named Mr. Rushworth at the prompting of Aunt Norris. Although Mr. Rushworth was not very intelligent or handsome, Maria agreed to his proposal of marriage for his estate of 700 acres was worth about 12,000 pounds per annum, a very large sum at the time.
Maria and Mr. Crawford
Immediately after Maria's engagement to Mr. Rushworth, a young man named Henry Crawford comes to the neighbourhood with his sister, Mary. Because Maria has no real affection for Mr. Rushworth, she does not scruple to flirt with Henry. Henry Crawford also favours her over her unattached younger sister Julia because of her engagement although Julia, too, is attracted to crawford. This puts Maria and her sister in competition with one another. When Maria's father returns from his journey to Antigua, Maria is married Mr. Rushworth, due to her belief that Henry had only used her for his own amusement and with the approval of Mr Rushworth by her parents and aunt. She goes to Brighton on her honeymoon and invites Julia.
Maria and Henry reunited
Maria goes to London with her husband, where she encounters Henry at a party. Her infatuation for him was quickly renewed, and the two of them soon elope, bringing shame to her family and disgrace on her. Henry does not marry Maria, and Mr. Rushworth divorces her for adultery. She moves to "another country" with her Aunt Norris, who has always favoured her of all of her nieces.
Notable Portrayals
- Samantha Bond portrayed the adult Maria in the 1983 British television serial (Mansfield Park (1983 TV serial))
- Elizabeth Eaton as the young Maria, and Victoria Hamilton as the teenage Maria in the 1999 film adaptation
- Tara Berwin as the younger Maria, and Michelle Ryan in the 2007 BBC television serial, aired on PBS as The Complete Jane Austen
References
Jane Austen GeneralLife Places People Cassandra Austen • Charles Austen • Francis Austen • Eliza Hancock • Catherine Hubback • Thomas Langlois LefroyAnalysis Janeite • Jane Austen in popular culture • Styles and themes of Jane Austen • Georgian society in Jane Austen's novels • Reception history of Jane AustenWorksMajor Sense and Sensibility (1811) • Pride and Prejudice (1813) • Mansfield Park (1814) • Emma (1815) • Northanger Abbey (1817) • Persuasion (1817)Minor Juvenilia Love and Freindship • The Beautifull Cassandra • The History of EnglandCharacters Elinor Dashwood • Edward Ferrars • Marianne Dashwood • John Willoughby • Elizabeth Bennet • Fitzwilliam Darcy • Jane Bennet • Lydia Bennet • Charles Bingley • Fanny Price • Edmund Bertram • Mary Crawford • Henry Crawford • Tom Bertram • Maria Bertram • Emma Woodhouse • George Knightley • Anne Elliot • Captain Frederick Wentworth • Catherine Morland • Henry TilneyAdaptationsSense and Sensibility 1981 TV miniseries • 1995 film • 2008 TV miniseries • Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters (2009 novel) • From Prada to Nada (2011 film)Pride and Prejudice 1940 film • First Impressions (1959 musical) • 1980 TV miniseries • 1995 TV miniseries • Darcy's Story (1995 novel) • Pride & Prejudice: A Latter-Day Comedy (2003 film) • Mr. Darcy's Daughters (2003 novel) • An Assembly Such as This (2003 novel) • Duty and Desire (2004 novel) • These Three Remain (2005 novel) • Bride and Prejudice (2004 film) • 2005 film • Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2009 parody novel) • Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls (2010 parody novel)Mansfield Park Emma 1972 TV miniseries • Clueless (1995 film) • 1996 film • 1996 TV miniseries • 2009 TV miniseries • Aisha (2009 film)Northanger Abbey Persuasion Categories:- Mansfield Park characters
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