Abstract: As a very well-known woman writer of novels, Jane Austen’s novels are quite popular. Especially, for example, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Persuasion. These novels have been studied by many scholars. Comparatively， Mansfield Park is not so much touched by scholars. However, it doesn’t mean that it is not well written. In fact, this novel, written in her later period, is quite mature in skills and ways of expressing. This thesis discusses how utilitarianism is reflected in the novel by the writers’ wonderful skills of presenting different characters. Those characters which are analyzed in this thesis all aim at getting what they want without considering whether their ways of getting those things are right or not, and even without taking morality into consideration. In order to make a girl love him, Henry elopes with Maria regardless of her having got married with another man; in order to meet her desire that she can marry the one she loves, namely Edmund, and also can enjoy a rich life, Mary is very happy and hopes Edmund’s brother can never recover on hearing that his brother is seriously ill because Edmund can thus inherit all the property; in order to maintain a difference between Fanny and her cousins, Aunt Norris presses Fanny very hard; through analyzing Fanny, in contrast, we can know how utilitarian the former three characters are.
Key words: utilitarianism, novel, character creation
