I have been slowly reading through Tanner’s impressive Jane Austen.  It is truly instructive:  even when I disagree, I often do so using the very terms of discussion that Tanner discerningly provides, so that my disagreements turn often on more fundamental agreements (“we agree in the language we use”).  I strongly recommend the book to any serious Austen fans out there.  The chapter on Mansfield Park is worth the price of the book by itself.