“Your uncle is disposed to be pleased with you in every respect; and I only wish you would talk to him more. You are one of those who are too silent in the evening circle.”
“But I do talk to him more than I used. I am sure I do. Did you not hear me ask him about the slave-trade last night?”
“I did—and was in hopes the question would be followed up by others. It would have pleased your uncle to be enquired of farther.”
“And I longed to do it—but there was such a dead silence!”
Jane Austen, Mansfield Park (1814). This conversation, between Mary Crawford (the first speaker) and Fanny Price, has attracted much post-colonial critical attention. Many argue that this “dead silence” permeates the novel—this is one of the few references to the slave-trade, on which the wealth of the Mansfield Park estate is based. The unspeakability of the slave trade in this context suggests the British attempt to separate capitalist and colonialist endeavors from the domestic sphere. (via 18c)
- 16th March
2012 - 16
