Read about the other entries on the list.Maria Bertram (Mansfield Park).
Yes, Maria treats her poor cousin and foster sister, the obnoxiously noble Fanny Price, like an unwanted glove. For her much-deserved ill rewards, we prescribe a stiff round of snubbing and a severe lack of new ribbon. But Bertram goes too far when she ditches her boring husband, Mr. Rushworth, for the handsome cad Henry Crawford. Adultery? Very bad. But in this case (and in the case of most cheating women in Austen’s day, we assume), the punishment is insanely harsh: Maria is forced to live out the remainder of her life in near-seclusion, in the home of her dreadful Aunt Norris. We bet Mr. Rushworth could’ve cheated without so much as a slap on the wrist.
--Marshal Zeringue
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