The Literature of Domestic Tourism and the Public Consumption of Private Property

In Mansfield Park, when Fanny accompanies the Crawfords and the Bertrams on a visit to Sotherton, the Rushworth estate, she reveals yet one more aspect of her exemplary character. Though remaining respectfully silent for the most part, she expresses her admiration for the house and grounds, respects its territorial boundaries and restraints—unlike Maria Bertram and Henry Crawford, she would never climb over a locked gate without waiting for the key, which as Crawford sarcastically observes symbolizes the “authority and protection” of the owner—and, though she herself is an outsider vis-à-vis the gentry with whom she has been raised, she psychologically and emotionally identifies with the traditional, symbolic…