We're diving into Mansfield Park in this first episode of season five of Pod and Prejudice. In today's chapters, we're taking it back to the generation before our heroine. We meet the Ward sisters who all marry into different social strata and learn how Fanny Price came to Mansfield Park.

Topics discussed include the something borrowed, something blue tradition, Mrs. Norris as a charity case, cousins marrying, Sir Wobbles the Pug, the bashing down of Fanny Price, naming girls after their mothers, and wealth as access.

Patron Study Questions this week come from Kaitlyn, Linnea, Avi, Ghenet, Melissa, Katie, and Liz. Topics discussed include our first poor MC, the three Ward sisters and their marriages, our impressions of the Bertrams, our predictions for the futures of the kids, Mrs. Norris's influence over Sir Thomas, and why the writing of MP may be so different from the other books we've read.

Becca's Study Questions:

Topics discussed include Austen's Dickensian turn, why the Bertrams keep Fanny separate, whether Fanny is better off at Mansfield, and why Edmund is so special.

Funniest Quote(s):

“But there are certainly not so many men of large fortune in the world, as there are pretty women to deserve them.”

“Lady Bertram, who was a woman of very tranquil feelings and a temper remarkably easy and indolent, would have contented herself with merely giving up her sister, and thinking no more of the matter: but Mrs. Norris had a spirit of activity, which could not be satisfied till she had written a long and angry letter to Fanny”

“I should wish to see them very good friends, and would on no account authorize in my girls the smallest degree of arrogance towards their relation; but still they cannot be equals.”

“It is not very wonderful that with all their promising talents and early information, they should be entirely deficient in the less common acquirements of self-knowledge, generosity, and humility.”

Questions Moving Forward: Will the cousins marry?

Who wins the chapters? Edmund Bertram

Glossary of Terms and Phrases:

Disoblige (v): offend (someone) by not acting in accordance with their wishes.

Deportment (n): a person's behavior or manners.

Emulation (n): effort to match or surpass a person or achievement, typically by imitation.

Frank (v): to mark (a piece of mail) with an official signature or sign indicating the right of the sender to free mailing.

Indolence (n): avoidance of activity or exertion; laziness.

Injudicious (adj): showing very poor judgment; unwise.

Prognostication (n): the action of foretelling or prophesying future events.

Solicitude (n): care or concern for someone or something.

Tractable (adj): easy to control or influence.

Glossary of People, Places, and Things: Yours, Mine, and Ours, Jane Eyre, A Cinderella Story, Gilmore Girls, The Last of Us, Mean Girls

Today's episode is brought to you by You Pod It, Dude! Listen wherever you get your podcasts, and watch the video on Spotify and Youtube! Follow them on Instagram and TikTok at @youpodit!

Molly's edition of Mansfield Park can be found here.

Next Episode: Mansfield Park Chapters 3-5

Our show art was created by Torrence Browne, and our audio is produced by Graham Cook. For bios and transcripts, check out our website at podandprejudice.com. Pod and Prejudice is transcribed by speechdocs.com. To support the show, check out our Patreon! Check out our merch at https://podandprejudice.dashery.com.

Instagram: @podandprejudice

Twitter: @podandprejudice

Facebook: Pod and Prejudice

Youtube: Pod and Prejudice

Merch store: https://podandprejudice.dashery.com/