Mary Crawford (Mansfield Park)

Mary Crawford
Mary Crawford and her brother, Henry Crawford, in the 2007 ITV television drama Mansfield Park. (Mary Crawford is depicted by Hayley Atwell)
Full name	Mary Crawford
Height	Taller than Fanny Price
Occupation	None, daughter of a wealthy gentleman
Primary residence	Home in London, Mansfield Parsonage
Family
Romantic interest(s)	Thomas Bertram, Edmund Bertram
Parents	Mr and Mrs Crawford (both deceased)
Children	None
Sibling(s)	Henry Crawford (full); Mrs. Grant (half)

Mary Crawford is an antagonist in Jane Austen's 1814 novel, Mansfield Park.

Mary Crawford is introduced in the fourth chapter of the novel. She comes from London in company with her brother, Henry Crawford, and arrives in the country with urbane airs, tastes, and manners, with a decided interest in courtship. She and her brother stay with their half-sister, Mrs. Grant, in the parsonage of which Mrs. Grant's husband recently purchased the living, by Mansfield Park. The reason for her arrival is that she had previously been staying with her uncle, but he brought his mistress to live in the home, making it an improper place for a young single girl such as Mary. She is initially apprehensive that she will find the country and the people in it to be dull. However, she quickly decides she likes it.

Mary Crawford thoroughly charms the wealthy Bertrams when she first meets them. Initially, she considers forming a match with Thomas Bertram, the elder son and heir of a baronet. She finds him to be a suitable match for a young lady such as herself with a fortune of £20,000. However, her feelings do not obey her financial goals as she finds herself preferring instead his younger brother, Edmund Bertram.

While Mary Crawford is becoming interested in the younger Bertram brother, Edmund, he also quickly becomes interested in Mary. However, Mary is at odds with herself in liking Edmund, as he is a younger brother without a large inheritance to look forward to. Furthermore, his intention is to become a clergyman and support himself by taking a family living. Mary and her wealthy London friends do not consider being a clergyman to be a sufficiently prestigious and stylish occupation. When she learns that Edmund is to take orders, she strongly expresses her opposition, believing that profession to be unworthy, filled only by lazy and gluttonous men, such as her brother in law, Dr Grant. She encourages Edmund to become a soldier or a lawyer instead, but to no avail. (Mary's attentions to Edmund displease Fanny Price, who is secretly in love with him). Mary begins to use her wiles in a half-joking way to try to get him to renounce his decision to be a clergyman. After promising him the first (two) dances at a ball soon be given at Mansfield Park, Mary tells Edmund it will be the "last time" she will dance with him, because the next time they meet he will be ordained, and... "she never has danced with a clergyman... and she never will".