Mrs. Grant is a character in Mansfield Park. She is the younger wife of Dr. Grant, a clergyman.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Mrs. Grant's father died when she was young, and her mother remarried and had two more children: Henry and Mary Crawford. The man she married, a Mr. Crawford, was brother to an admiral in the navy. After Mr. Crawford died, the children stayed with their mother, becoming close with their elder half-sister. After her mother died and the Crawford children went to live with their uncle the admiral, she fell out of touch with them[2].
Marriage[]
Mrs. Grant married Dr. Grant, a clergyman. They moved to the parsonage connected to Mansfield Park, a grand estate owned by Sir Thomas Bertram, a baronet. The parsonage was originally being saved for Edmund Bertram, the baronet's second son, but Tom Bertram, the firstborn son, got into a lot of debt that forced Sir Thomas to give up the parsonage. It passed to Dr. Grant. Sir Thomas hoped that Dr. Grant was an old, wizened man, who would be dead soon so his second son, Edmund Bertram, could have his birthright[1]. As it happened, her husband was happy and healthy, with no intention of dying early.
Years later[]
Three years later, Dr. and Mrs. Grant were established members of the society in the village and invited Mrs. Grant's younger half-siblings, Mr. and Miss Crawford, to stay with them[2]. Upon the arrival of her dear half-siblings, Mrs. Grant immediately went about matchmaking. She thought that Julia Bertram, the youngest child of Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram, would suit Henry admirably[2].
Character traits[]
Mrs. Grant is described to be an amiable woman with some faults—as discovered by Mrs. Norris when the Grants were first getting settled at the Parsonage. She is kind but is of the matchmaking turn of mind. When her half-brother and sister stay with them at the Parsonage, she immediately sets about matchmaking. She dearly loves her younger half-siblings, even after their long separation; and vice versa.
If Mrs. Grant possessed any of the beauty that Mary Crawford is famous for when she was younger, then she has mostly lost it by now. She is described as having a sort of drum-like figure that perfectly accentuates her younger half-sister's graceful and elegant figure[3].