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Sir Thomas Bertram
Mrs. Norris is Fanny’s aunt and primary source of unhappiness. She is essentially a self-centered, self-righteous, superficial, dramatic, money-grubbing, manipulative bully, and Austen portrays her with a biting irony that often renders Mrs. Norris comedic, as her actions are generally petty and hypocritical without her awareness of it. Mrs. Norris’s hilarious awfulness also has real repercussions for others, however. She can often be seen exploiting people for financial or social gain, and the way she treats Fanny is often shockingly cruel and borders on psychological abuse, despite Mrs. Norris having been the first to suggest taking Fanny in. While she neglects Fanny, Mrs. Norris dotes on and spoils Maria. At the book’s end, Mrs. Norris moves far away to live with the disgraced Maria.
Mrs. Norris Quotes in Mansfield Park
The Mansfield Park quotes below are all either spoken by Mrs. Norris or refer to Mrs. Norris. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
There will be some difficulty in our way, Mrs. Norris…as to the distinction proper to be made between the girls as they grow up… how, without depressing her spirits too far, to make her remember that she is not a Miss Bertram… they cannot be equals. Their rank, fortune, rights, and expectations will always be different.
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Chapter 15
Quotes
“I am quite ashamed of you, Fanny, to make such a difficulty of obliging your cousins in a trifle of this sort— so kind as they are to you! Take the part with a good grace, and let us hear no more of the matter, I entreat.”
“Do not urge her, madam,” said Edmund…
“I am not going to urge her,” replied Mrs. Norris sharply; “but I shall think her a very obstinate, ungrateful girl, if she does not do what her aunt and cousins wish her— very ungrateful, indeed, considering who and what she is.”
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Mrs. Norris Quotes in Mansfield Park
The Mansfield Park quotes below are all either spoken by Mrs. Norris or refer to Mrs. Norris. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
There will be some difficulty in our way, Mrs. Norris…as to the distinction proper to be made between the girls as they grow up… how, without depressing her spirits too far, to make her remember that she is not a Miss Bertram… they cannot be equals. Their rank, fortune, rights, and expectations will always be different.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15
Quotes
“I am quite ashamed of you, Fanny, to make such a difficulty of obliging your cousins in a trifle of this sort— so kind as they are to you! Take the part with a good grace, and let us hear no more of the matter, I entreat.”
“Do not urge her, madam,” said Edmund…
“I am not going to urge her,” replied Mrs. Norris sharply; “but I shall think her a very obstinate, ungrateful girl, if she does not do what her aunt and cousins wish her— very ungrateful, indeed, considering who and what she is.”
Related Characters:
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Explanation and Analysis:
