Northanger Abbey by, Austen is a comedic novel centered around Catherine Morland. Young Catherine is into reading gothic novels and during her first trip to Bath, she filters the people and places she becomes acquainted with through this fictional lens. Austen pokes a lot of fun on gothic novels; there is definitely a formal to them. In typical Austen fashion, there are characters that initially seem good, but end up being shady, a good deal of social commentary, humor and a sweet love interest.
Northanger Abbey is known as Austen’s satire on the gothic novel and she directly mentions the queen of gothic literature Ann Radcliffe and her novel The Mysteries of Udolpho frequently. Catherine is enthralled by this novel and talks about it every chance she gets.
“Oh! I am delighted by the book! I assure you, if it had not been to meet you, I would not have come away from it for all the world.”
Catherine enjoys these dramatic, sensational novels, and yet she doesn’t seem to really reflect much on what she’s reading. Austen circles back around to this quality of Catherine’s later on the novel, when her lack of discernment and propriety catches up to her.
“It seemed as if the whole might be traced to the influence of that sort of reading which she had there indulged.”
These quotes made my chuckle, but it also led to me ask some interesting questions:
- What type of influence, if any, does fiction/the novel have on the reader? What happens when the reader takes fiction too seriously? What happens when we don’t reflect on and think critically about what we read? Does the author bear any responsibility on how their works are interpreted?
I think these are opened ended questions that don’t have right or wrong answers, but rather reveal just how dynamic, nuanced and individualized reading a piece of fiction is. Catherine complete dives into this gothic world of her novels and it does cloud some of her judgment, yet this is contrasted nicely with Henry Tilney, Catherine’s love interest, who also enjoys these works of fiction, yet he is able to draw a sharp distinction between fiction and reality.
Austen provides quite a bit of commentary on the benefits and joys of reading novels, yet this is my favorite quote that made me laugh out loud.
“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be incredibly stupid.”
Ouch, Jane Austen. Ouch.
As in most of Austen’s novels, a central element of the plot is dependent upon the relationships/friendships between females. Catherine becomes friends with Miss Thorpe, her brother’s love interest, and Miss Tilney, Henry’s younger sister. These two women couldn’t be more dissimilar - one is pushy, bossy, dramatic and selfish, while the other is calm, quite, a bit reserved and kind. There is quite a bit of drama that results with one of these women in particular, but Austen still uses both of these characters to provide some really lovely quotes and thoughts on the value of friendship and the important of female companionship.
However, remain wary of individuals who excessively use hyperboles to express their affection…
“There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of living by halves, it is not my nature. My attachments are always excessively strong.”
I also enjoyed Austen’s commentary on the differences between men and women - I found these passages quite hilarious. Some may see this as archaic, but I find it really entertaining.
I enjoyed Northanger Abbey immensely, more than I thought I would - it’s funny, sweet and just delightful. This was actually a page turner for me because it was so funny and spent the entire time reading this novel chuckling or with smile on my face. Also, it reminded me that I have The Italian by, Ann Radcliffe unread on my shelves and because of Northanger Abbey, I’ll be reading it next year.
Rating: 4.5/5
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