Mansfield Park
Mrs. Norris
Fanny's meddling aunt
Lady Bertram's sister, who bosses the household and picks on Fanny. She is stingy, spiteful and endlessly busy.
Mrs. Norris is the sister of Lady Bertram and the person who pushes the Bertrams into taking in Fanny, a decision she is quick to take credit for. Having done that, she makes it her business to keep Fanny in her place, with errands, scoldings and reminders that Fanny is not a Miss Bertram.
She flatters the wealthy and bullies those who cannot fight back. She spoils Maria and Julia, fusses over Mr. Rushworth's money, and saves a few pennies wherever she can, as in the theatre curtain she boasts of making cheaply. She is always in motion, scolding one person and flattering another, and no one at Mansfield escapes her opinions.
“You are a very ungrateful girl, Fanny! To refuse when your cousins require such a trifle of you!”
In the story
Contains spoilers.
Mrs. Norris sends Fanny trotting to the Parsonage for her sewing and presses her to act in the play, calling her ungrateful when she refuses. She enjoys the theatricals and defends them to Sir Thomas, saying she only wanted to keep the young people amused.
When Maria is disgraced, Mrs. Norris is furious and says no one in the house ever appreciated her devotion. She leaves Mansfield forever to live with Maria. Peace returns to the house.
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