Northanger Abbey

JANE AUSTEN
1818

INTRODUCTION

Though it was published posthumously in 1818, Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey was written in 1803 and it was the first novel she completed. The book is also one of the first of its day to employ realism (depicting the common, often uneventful happenings of everyday life). The work also comments on the novelistic conventions of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, including conventions related to the sentimental romance, as well as its subgenre, the Gothic romance. Austen both exploits and mocks these forms as she tells the story of young, naïve Catherine Morland, who eagerly enters the world of the country gentry and upper middle class society, only to be overwhelmed, confused, and sometimes disappointed by the people she meets and by the complexities of their social rules. Often picturing herself as the heroine in one of the romantic novels she reads, Catherine is forced repeatedly to test her notions of appropriate behavior. Her adventures take her from her home in Fullerton to the city of Bath, then to an estate in the country (Northanger Abbey), where her novel-influenced imagination runs wild. Inspired by the frightful mysteries that are the mainstay of Gothic romances, Catherine concocts in her imagination a crime where none actually exists. Northanger Abbey is a novel about novels, as well as a novel about contemporary society; and with a light, humorous touch, Austen demonstrates the limitations and the value of both. It is often commented that, while Austen parodies the sentimental novel, her writing is so skillful that she is also able to demonstrate how

the sentimental novel can be written convincingly and movingly. The effect is such that readers who recognize the satirical elements in the work are nonetheless swept up in a warm and touching love story.

Though it was published nearly 200 years ago, Northanger Abbey is available in a 2005 edition that is introduced and annotated by Alfred Mac Adam.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Austen was born on December 16, 1775, into a comfortably well-off family in the town of Steventon, in Hampshire, England. She was the seventh of the eight children of the Reverend George Austen and Cassandra Leigh Austen. The family was closely knit, and Austen's sister Cassandra was her best friend throughout her life. Like many middle class families of the time, the Austens were quite well read, and enjoyed writing and performing plays for each other. These plays were Austen's first forays into writing. Though these youthful works were not published in her lifetime, they were thematic and stylistic precursors to Austen's later works.

While Austen's brothers received formal educations, she and her sister were educated largely at home. The girls studied for a brief period, from 1784 through 1786, at the Abbey School in Reading, Berkshire, England. Once they returned home, they continued their education in a self-directed manner, and Austen's interests included poetry, politics, and theology.

In 1795, Austen fell in love with Thomas Lefroy, but the courtship was terminated by Lefroy's mother, who deemed Austen unsuitable, as she was the daughter of a clergyman with little wealth.

During the next several years, Austen began writing novels, drafts of which were later revised and sold. Austen began a draft of the novel that would later become Northanger Abbey in 1798 and 1799. She completed revisions in 1803, at which time the work was titled Susan. It was sold to publisher Richard Crosby who returned the unpublished manuscript in 1816, though it was later published in 1818.

In 1801, Austen's father retired and moved his wife and daughters to the town of Bath. Austen soon met a young clergyman with whom she fell in love, but he died unexpectedly. The following year, she was engaged briefly to the brother of friends, but she broke off the engagement and never married. Following her father's death in 1805, Austen, her sister, and her mother were cared for financially by Austen's brothers, who subsidized a comfortable middle-class existence for the women in Bath. They moved to the country, in Chawton, Kent, when Austen's brother's wife died in 1808.

Settled once again, Austen began writing in earnest, revising an earlier manuscript. The work became Sense and Sensibility and was published in 1811. The novel focuses on the courtship of two sisters, and also explores themes relevant to a post-French Revolution Britain, including property rights and gender issues. In 1813, Austen published Pride and Prejudice, a novel that again combined romance with political themes, such as the issue of property inheritance. Austen next published Mansfield Park in 1814. In this novel, Austen examines British societal mores (typical customs and characteristics of a community). It was followed in 1816 by Austen's Emma, which features a beautiful and wealthy heroine who fancies herself a matchmaker. Austen soon began her next novel, Persuasion. It was Austen's last completed novel and in it Austen turns to such political themes as the social reconstruction of Britain in the years following the French Revolution. The work centers on a heroine who was advised to discourage the attentions of an apparently unsuitable suitor, and is at age twenty-seven seen as a spinster.

Austen, becoming increasingly ill at this time, finished the novel quickly and hurriedly began another, which she never completed. She suffered from what some now believe was Addison's disease, a failure of the adrenal glands. Austen succumbed to her illness and died on July 18, 1817, in Winchester, England.

PLOT SUMMARY

Volume I

CHAPTER 1

As Northanger Abbey opens, we are introduced to Catherine Morland and her family. The reader is informed that Catherine is a rather plain, unremarkable girl with nine siblings. Her father is a clergyman, well respected with a comfortable income. Catherine is described as somewhat of a tomboy, and rather unheroic, that is, she does not possess the characteristics of the typical heroines of sentimental novels of the time. At seventeen, she is invited by her neighbors, the Allens, who have no children of their own, to accompany them to the spa town of Bath for a six-week stay.

CHAPTER 2

Having arrived in Bath and having settled themselves in their rented lodgings, Mr. and Mrs. Allen and Catherine visit the "Upper Rooms," a ballroom for the assemblage of visitors to Bath who are out to meet acquaintances and be seen. Mrs. Allen finds no one with whom she is sufficiently acquainted to speak with or for Catherine to dance with.

CHAPTER 3

Attending the "Pump-room" becomes part of the regular routine of the Allens and Catherine. The room features a fountain from which the allegedly medicinal waters of Bath pour. Mr. Allen has come to Bath specifically to partake in the waters for health purposes. While he is there, Mrs. Allen and Catherine stroll the Lower Assembly Rooms, another assembly place. Here Catherine is introduced by the master of ceremonies to Henry Tilney, with whom Catherine dances and has tea.

CHAPTER 4

Catherine returns to the Pump-room the next day, eager to see Mr. Tilney again, but he is not there. Instead, Mrs. Allen is reacquainted with an old friend, Mrs. Thorpe, who is the mother of John and Isabella Thorpe (as well as four other children). When the Thorpes recognize a familiarity in Catherine's face, it is discovered that Catherine is the sister of James Morland, who attends Oxford University with John Thorpe.

CHAPTER 5

In the next several chapters, the friendship of Isabella and Catherine is established. Catherine attends balls and the theater with the Allens and with the Thorpes. Isabella and Catherine discover their common interest in novel-reading.

MEDIA ADAPTATIONS

• Northanger Abbey was adapted as a television movie with the same title in 1986, and was directed by Giles Foster and produced by A&E Television Networks.
• Northanger Abbey was adapted as a television movie with the same title in 2007, directed by Jon Jones and produced by Granada Television for the United Kingdom channel ITV. The same movie aired on the American Public Broadcasting Corporation (PBS) in January 2008.

CHAPTER 6

A typical conversation between Isabella and Catherine is related by the narrator as evidence of growing affection the young women have for one another. Catherine and Isabella discuss the novel they are reading, as well as Catherine's interest in Mr. Tilney.

CHAPTER 7

John Thorpe and James Morland arrive in Bath. John's interest in courting Catherine is developed. Catherine finds John's manner somewhat unpleasant.

CHAPTER 8

Henry Tilney's sister Eleanor is introduced. Catherine is eager to make her acquaintance. Catherine seeks the company of Henry Tilney and fails to recognize that John is interested in her.

CHAPTER 9

On an outing with Catherine, John presses Catherine about her relationship with the Allens. He believes Catherine to be favored to inherit the Allens' fortune. Catherine discovers that Mrs. Allen has learned some information about the Tilney family and questions her about them.

CHAPTER 10

The Allens, the Thorpes, and Catherine and James Morland spend an evening together at the theater. The romantic attraction between James and Isabella progresses. Catherine converses with Eleanor Tilney, and is pleased to have advanced their friendship. On another evening at a ball, Catherine enjoys dancing with Henry Tilney and she successfully avoids the advances of John Thorpe.

CHAPTER 11

Having made arrangements to walk with Eleanor and Henry, Catherine is disappointed by rainy weather. As the rain clears up, John, Isabella, and James arrive and attempt to persuade Catherine to join them on an outing. Catherine declines, having made the prior engagement with the Tilneys. John lies to Catherine, telling her he has seen Henry and Eleanor out for a drive. Catherine reluctantly accompanies John, with Isabella and James following in a second carriage.

CHAPTER 12

General Tilney, Henry and Eleanor's father, is introduced. Catherine, given her interest in Henry, is intent on making a good impression on the General. At the theater, she meets the General and speaks to Henry. She is somewhat relieved about her status with the family despite her dismay at not having had the arranged outing with Henry and Eleanor.

CHAPTER 13

John Thorpe does his best to continue to discourage Catherine's affiliation with the Tilneys. John again thwarts, through deception, an engagement between Eleanor and Catherine. Catherine, angry and hurt, is determined to right any false impression the Tilneys have of her due to John's deceptions.

CHAPTER 14

Catherine, Eleanor, and Henry enjoy an outing, hiking around Beechen Cliff.

CHAPTER 15

Isabella informs Catherine that she and James have become engaged. The young women renew a friendship that had become slightly strained. John attempts to ascertain Catherine's feelings for him, and believes she has some romantic interest in him.

Volume II

CHAPTER 16

Henry Tilney's brother, Captain Frederick Tilney, is introduced. Catherine's feelings for Henry grow more intense. Frederick flirts with the engaged Isabella, and she does not reject the attention, much to Catherine's confusion and dismay. Isabella receives a letter from James, in which he conveys the modest terms of the establishment of their household. He and his father settled upon a fair and comfortable allowance for James to provide for Isabella; Mr. Morland has also requested that the couple wait two to three years before marrying. Isabella is disappointed.

CHAPTER 17

General Tilney invites Catherine to retire with his family to the Tilney's estate, Northanger Abbey. Having been asked back to attend to family business, he seeks a companion for Eleanor. Catherine happily agrees. She looks forward to spending time with both Eleanor and Henry, and also eagerly awaits exploring the abbey, which she pictures as a setting similar to the Gothic romance novels she frequently reads.

CHAPTER 18

Isabella informs Catherine that her brother John is in love with Catherine, and that John believes Catherine has encouraged his attentions. Catherine is shocked and denies the claim entirely. The flirtation between Frederick and Isabella continues, and Catherine is jealous on behalf of her absent brother James.

CHAPTER 19

Catherine discusses with Henry the relationship between Frederick and Isabella. Henry is unable to explain his brother's apparent disregard for Isabella's engagement.

CHAPTER 20

The Gothic section of the novel begins with this chapter. In the next several chapters, Austen alludes to many of the motifs characteristic of the Gothic romances of the time. Catherine and the Tilneys depart for Northanger Abbey. On the journey there, Henry teases Catherine about the romantic notions she has already formed regarding Northanger Abbey. He conjures a story about the mysterious objects and events she might discover there.

CHAPTER 21

Upon her arrival at Northanger Abbey, Catherine's imagination, inspired by the novels she has read, begins to run wild. With the stage set by a dark, stormy night, Catherine comes to believe that the ebony cabinet in her room encases mysterious secrets.

CHAPTER 22

The next morning, Catherine discovers that the cabinet contains only old laundry bills. Henry departs for his parsonage in Woodston, while Catherine is taken on a limited tour of the grounds and home. She longs to see the portions of the abbey that General Tilney elects not to show her. Eleanor and Catherine discuss the death of Eleanor's mother.

CHAPTER 23

Eleanor shows Catherine some of the rooms in the abbey that she previously had not been able to view. At the same time, the young women discuss in more detail the events surrounding the death of Eleanor's mother. Determined to find a mystery in the ancient home, Catherine begins to grow suspicious of General Tilney. His demeanor is often stern and gruff; he is reluctant to show her all of the rooms in the abbey; his wife, Mrs. Tilney, died suddenly nine years ago, Catherine learns. She begins to suspect that either the general had some role in his wife's death or that she is still alive and locked in a separate part of the abbey (both scenarios were common plots of Catherine's favorite novels).

CHAPTER 24

Catherine resolves to search the deceased Mrs. Tilney's rooms. When an opportunity presents itself, she enacts her plan, but is soon discovered by Henry. Rather ashamed of herself, Catherine confesses her suspicions. Henry patiently explains what Catherine perceived to be mysteries, and gently chastises her for her wild imaginings.

CHAPTER 25

Privately, Catherine henceforth vows to be guided by common sense, rather than influenced by notions inspired by fiction. Beginning to worry since more than a week has passed and she has not yet heard from Isabella, Catherine receives a letter from her brother that explains the silence of her friend. James in his letter informs Catherine that his engagement with Isabella has been terminated; he implies that she instead favors Frederick Tilney.

CHAPTER 26

A parson in the nearby town of Woodston, Henry is frequently away from Northanger Abbey to handle business there. The General, Eleanor, and Catherine visit Henry in Woodston. The General hints at this time that a match between Henry and Catherine may be imminent.

CHAPTER 27

Catherine receives a letter at Northanger Abbey from Isabella in which Isabella characterizes Frederick's behavior as annoyingly doting prior to his recent departure to rejoin his regiment. She also expresses confusion regarding James's behavior and asks Catherine to speak to him on her behalf. Catherine is appalled, and not fooled by Isabella's show of innocence.

CHAPTER 28

Soon after General Tilney departs on business from the abbey, Eleanor and Catherine (who are there alone, as Henry is in Woodston) receive word that the General has asked Catherine to leave the abbey, the very next morning. Both women are confused and dismayed at the suddenness of this request, and at the rudeness with which it has been executed; Catherine is to leave by hired coach early in the morning without an escort.

CHAPTER 29

Catherine returns home, dejected. She does not reveal to her family the cause of her sadness.

CHAPTER 30

Not long after Catherine's departure from Northanger Abbey, Henry appears in Fullerton, having been informed of her departure when he arrived back home at the abbey. He followed her directly. Henry explains that his father, having initially been informed by John Thorpe that Catherine was well-to-do, and an heiress of the Allens' wealth, encouraged a match between Henry and Catherine. John had inflated his understanding of Catherine's wealth and social standing when he thought his courtship of her might be fruitful. Having been rejected by Catherine, John informed General Tilney what he had recently discovered through his sister Isabella's short-lived engagement to James—that the Morlands were not wealthy at all. General Tilney subsequently ordered Catherine from his home when he realized that Catherine was not the social equal of his son Henry. Henry ignores his father's wishes and proposes to Catherine.

CHAPTER 31

Catherine's parents consent to the match, but only upon General Tilney's approval, which Eleanor is pivotal in acquiring. Shortly after Eleanor's wedding to a viscount, Henry and Catherine wed.

CHARACTERS

Mr. Allen

Mr. Allen is the neighbor of the Morlands'. He is ordered to the spa town of Bath, which is famous for the medicinal qualities of its waters. Mr. Allen has gout, a condition involving inflammation of the joints. He is described as sensible and, while he is somewhat uninvolved in the details regarding Catherine's attachments, he does attempt to guide her in a parental way about matters regarding social propriety.

Mrs. Allen

Mrs. Allen is the wife of Mr. Allen. She has no children of her own and, suspecting that Catherine is both eager for and old enough to seek entertainment farther afield than Fullerton (the village in which the Allens and Morlands reside), Mrs. Allen invites Catherine to go with her and her husband to Bath for an extended visit. She is described as being a rather superficial woman who is primarily concerned with clothes and finery. Although not unkind to Catherine, Mrs. Allen is not particularly engaged in the events of Catherine's life.

Catherine Morland

Catherine Morland is the novel's protagonist. She is one of the ten children of Mr. and Mrs. Morland. Described has having been a plain tomboy in her youth, but growing into a pretty teenager, Catherine is presented as being pleasant, but somewhat unremarkable. The narrator notes that Catherine is an avid reader, and that she is "in training for a heroine" of the type in the sentimental and Gothic novels she devours. She has read the type of literary works sentimental heroines would have read, and has studied music and drawing. Having prepared herself as best as she is able for her Bath adventure, Catherine is pleased that Henry Tilney is among the first people to whom she has been introduced once in Bath. Catherine feels that she is in "high luck" to have met someone with such a "pleasing countenance, a very intelligent and lively eye" who "if not quite handsome, was very near it." Direct and forthright, she is unable to lie, and is horrified at the thought of anyone misperceiving her intentions or feelings. When John Thorpe misrepresents her to Eleanor and Henry, Catherine is mortified, and feels compelled to instantly right the situation. Upon learning through Isabella that John felt that she (Catherine) had encouraged his courting of her, she immediately implores Isabella to explain to John that she possesses no romantic feelings toward him, and never has. At Northanger Abbey, in a setting that mirrors popular Gothic romances of the time, Catherine indulges her imagination, expecting to find mysteries everywhere. When none present themselves, Catherine conjures one, suspecting the stern General Tilney to have been involved in some violence against his late wife. Henry calmly disabuses her of her fanciful notions, much to Catherine's shame. She acknowledges privately, after Henry asks "What have you been judging from?", that her irrational pronouncements regarding General Tilney's suspected behavior stem from the type of books she had read prior to leaving Bath. It is not these works—books depicting sinister crimes and mysteries designed to frighten readers for entertainment—that one should depend on for information regarding human behavior, Henry advises. Despite her suspicions regarding the General, however, Catherine rarely ascribes anything but good intentions to those whom she believes she knows well. She is therefore shocked and disappointed to learn that Isabella cared more for wealth than for her brother James, and that Isabella would continue to misrepresent herself, even after James had learned the truth about her. Catherine has grown considerably following her experiences in Bath and Northanger Abbey, having shed her naïve notions regarding the motivations of others, and having discarded many of her own misguided ideas about the world. It is a somewhat wiser, more mature Catherine who marries Henry Tilney at the end of the novel.

James Morland

James Morland is Catherine's brother. He attends college at Oxford with John Thorpe; the two are good friends. While visiting Bath with John, James is reacquainted with Isabella, whom he has met previously. James is also pleased to find his sister Catherine in Bath, and is happy that she has been befriended by Isabella. James courts Isabella and proposes to her. The engagement is soon broken off, however, when Isabella discovers with disappointment the limited finances that James has available through his father's income. James is shocked to find that Isabella and Frederick Tilney seem to have become romantically involved during his brief absence. Like his sister, James grows out of his youthful innocence and naïveté with the help of Isabella Thorpe. Protective of Catherine, he warns her to "beware how you give your heart."

Mrs. Morland

Catherine and James Morland's mother, as well as the mother of eight other children, Mrs. Morland is described as being guided by common sense and love for her children. She and her husband allow Catherine to go to Bath with the Allens, knowing that Catherine is eager and ready, as a young adult, to broaden her horizons. Along with Mr. Morland, Mrs. Morland agrees to Catherine's match with Henry Tilney, wanting her daughter to be happy, but does not give her final consent until Henry's father endorses the engagement as well.

Mr. Richard Morland

Richard Morland is the father of Catherine and James, and of the remaining eight children. Happily wed to Mrs. Morland, he is employed as a clergyman and is well respected in the community. He appears to agree with his wife on most matters where their children are concerned. In preparing Catherine for her trip to Bath, Mr. and Mrs. Morland make arrangements with "moderation and composure, which seemed rather consistent with the common feelings of common life" in contrast to the more refined and extravagant manners of families of a higher social class. This characterization could well be applied to the Morlands in general, with the exception of Catherine's romantic fantasies. In all else, as a family, they appear to be ruled by composure and common sense.

Isabella Thorpe

Isabella Thorpe is the daughter of the widowed Mrs. Thorpe. She is four years older than Catherine, and befriends her quickly. Isabella is shown to be rather shallow, interested very much, like her mother and Mrs. Allen, in appearances. Although she professes to be Catherine's good friend, when Catherine's brother arrives in Bath, Isabella showers most of her attention on James. Although Isabella initially encourages Catherine's interest in Henry Tilney, when John and James arrive in Bath, Isabella attempts to turn her friend's attention to John instead. In addition to being shallow, Isabella is depicted as fickle and false as well. When she discovers how little wealth James would bring to their prospective union, she flirts eagerly with Frederick Tilney. When Catherine questions her, Isabella maintains her love for James and denies her interest in Frederick. In the end, Isabella has a relationship with neither James nor Frederick, nor any other prospects. In literary terms, she may be viewed as the foil (a character who directly contrasts another) to the good-hearted Eleanor Tilney.

John Thorpe

John Thorpe is the brother of Isabella and son of Mrs. Thorpe, as well as the friend and schoolmate of James Morland. He takes an immediate interest in Catherine, which is increased when he suspects she will inherit the wealth of the Allens. He asks Catherine if Mr. Allen is rich, and confirms that the couple has no children, and is interested in the closeness of Catherine's relationship to the Allens. "But you are always very much with them?" he asks, and seems pleased when Catherine answers in the affirmative. John is quite a braggart, always going on about his horses and carriages, and his abilities as a horseman, among other things. He is also quite duplicitous, and goes out of his way to thwart Catherine's relationship with Eleanor and Henry Tilney. It is John who, when first attempting to court Catherine, gives General Tilney a false impression of her wealth, and it is also John who later, when discovering that Catherine has no interest in him, speaks disparagingly of her family and their income. He also tells the General that the Allens have someone besides Catherine in mind as their heir.

Mrs. Thorpe

Mrs. Thorpe, a widow, is the mother of Isabella and John, as well as two other daughters (Anne and Maria) and two other sons (Edward and William) who are only mentioned briefly in the story. Mrs. Thorpe is also an old friend of Mrs. Allen. When the two women become reacquainted in Bath, Isabella and Catherine are introduced to one another; they form a warm and instantaneous bond.

Eleanor Tilney

Eleanor Tilney is the daughter of General Tilney and the sister of Henry and Frederick. She is portrayed as quiet, intelligent, and good natured. In that she and Catherine grow genuinely and steadily more fond of one another, their relationship stands in stark contrast to the shallow one Isabella initially established with Catherine, a relationship that eventually crumbles under the strain of Isabella's unkind and shallow behavior. At the story's end, Eleanor is married to a man whom she had fallen in love with, who had previously been found by the General to be socially inferior to the Tilneys, but who subsequently inherited considerable wealth and the title of viscount (a British nobleman of high rank).

Frederick Tilney

Frederick Tilney is the older brother of Henry and Eleanor. He flirts with Isabella, knowing full well that she is engaged to another man, a fact that confuses and distresses Catherine considerably. Once the engagement between Isabella and James has been broken off, Frederick returns to his regiment, uninterested in pursuing an extended courtship with Isabella.

General Tilney

General Tilney, a widower, is the father of Frederick, Henry, and Eleanor. Catherine often finds him stern and unapproachable, as well as quite particular about such things as meals and mealtimes. If not always affable, the General is often kind to Catherine, and invites her to accompany his family to their country estate, Northanger Abbey. The General's gruff nature and his unwillingness to allow Catherine to see all of Northanger Abbey are inflated in her imagination to the level of a crime; she begins to suspect him of foul play. Catherine convinces herself that the General has either killed his wife (whom Catherine has been told died of a sudden illness nine years earlier), or that he has locked his wife somewhere within the residence. While she soon realizes, with Henry's help, that neither of these wild stories could possibly be true, the General does treat her somewhat cruelly, despite his initial kindness towards her. When General Tilney learns from John Thorpe that Catherine is not wealthy, nor will she become so through inheritance, the General is angry that he has allowed her to stay in his home, and that he has encouraged a match between Catherine and Henry; he immediately evicts her without an explanation. At the story's end, the General is persuaded by Eleanor to consider allowing Catherine and Henry to marry, and he is pleasantly surprised when he discovers that she is not penniless, but that her family does have a respectable income.

Henry Tilney

Henry Tilney, a clergyman, is the son of General Tilney and is the brother of Frederick and Eleanor. He and Catherine first meet when they are partnered for a dance by the master of ceremonies at a gathering in the Lower Rooms in Bath. He is described as good-looking, and possessing "an archness [mischievous sense of irony] and pleasantry in his manner" that interests Catherine "though it was hardly understood by her." After the dance and tea together, Catherine becomes increasingly interested in Henry, who leaves Bath for a short time after their initial meeting. While General Tilney believes Catherine to be of a comparable social standing, he encourages his son Henry to pursue Catherine. Several years older than Catherine (he is twenty-six to her eighteen by the book's end), Henry often appears amused by her imagination and by the good-natured, innocent way she perceives others. His interest in her is fueled by hers in him; Catherine responds to Henry's wit, his candor with her, and his overall pleasant demeanor. After dancing with him one evening, she gives him her full attention, "listening with sparkling eyes to everything he said; and, in finding him irresistible, becoming so herself." The narrator explains near the end of the novel that Henry was drawn to Catherine from the beginning because she seemed so struck by him. When Catherine's imagination gets away from her at Northanger Abbey and she accuses Henry's father of having harmed the late Mrs. Tilney, Henry is shocked, but not unkind in his reprimand of her. He implores her to keep in mind "that we are English, that we are Christians." While Catherine fears Henry will distance himself from her, he does not. His affection for her appears to deepen, and when he discovers, upon returning from the neighboring town in which his parish is situated, that his father has sent Catherine away, Henry openly defies General Tilney and follows Catherine. Despite his father's objections, Henry proposes to Catherine and persists in his desire to marry her even while his father refuses, for a time, to give his consent.

THEMES

Gender Issues

Women during the late 1700s and early 1800s had little power over their own destinies. Having no access to higher education, they were schooled primarily in the art of making themselves into a desirable mate. Yet Austen offers several examples of choices women could make that had the power to shape their future. As Henry Tilney observes, in marriage, just as in a dance, "man has the advantage of choice, women only the power of refusal." Austen demonstrates the extent of this power through the character of Isabella. Although at the end of the novel, she is unwed, she has nevertheless, through her flirtation with Frederick Tilney, escaped what has become an undesirable engagement to James Morland. Additionally, the narrator notes that Eleanor Tilney weds "the man of her choice," although General Tilney initially disallows this union, until the gentleman inherited both the title of viscount and a fortune. Catherine is something of an anti-heroine when compared with the heroines of her favorite novels; she is pretty enough, but plain, unworldly, not wealthy. Her lack of worldly experience makes her uniquely appealing to Henry Tilney, despite the fact that he is often amused by her in a manner that sometimes appears condescending. Tilney responds to Catherine's strength of character, and it is in this strength that her power lies—power not merely to attract a husband, but the power to withstand the manipulations of society in general and the Thorpes in particular. She is certain, for example, about her affection for both Henry and Eleanor and does not allow the Thorpes' attempts to cast them as aloof and unsuitable to deter her interest in the Tilneys. Additionally, as the relationship between Henry and Catherine develops, one may see that while he is older, and wiser in some regards, they appear well-suited to one another in that they both have an honest, candid approach to discourse, and they share common interests, such as their enjoyment of Gothic novels. Catherine grew up as something of a tomboy, enjoying time outdoors and physical pursuits, whereas Henry is shown to have some feminine qualities, such as an interest in fabric and clothes. It seems fair to assume that their marriage will be one in which power sharing, rather than power struggles, will be common. Through their union, Austen demonstrates the possibility for women to achieve, within the confines of the social conventions of the day, a life that is not characterized by the subjugation many women endured. Austen further explores issues of gender and power by emphasizing the differences between sentimental romances and literary novels in an effort to both legitimize and elevate writing as an acceptable and respectable profession for women.

British Social and Political Conflicts

Having witnessed the devastation of the French Revolution, some English authors were eager to point out the political and social differences between England and France in order to encourage the notion that the conditions that brought about the revolution in France did not exist in England. Others took the opposite tack, hoping to sound a warning about the possibilities of a similar upheaval by frankly depicting the social and political conflict in England. Most critics agree that Austen was not an overtly political author, although there is some debate regarding her aims in Northanger Abbey. At times she appears to take a decidedly nationalistic approach, extolling, through her more favorable characters, the virtues of English society. In other instances, she knowledgeably references political conflicts contemporary to the late 1700s and early 1800s, the time period in which she was writing Northanger Abbey (even though it was not published until some years later). One of the passages in Northanger Abbey most frequently cited by critics who seek to stress Austen's own emphasis on the praiseworthiness of English society occurs when Henry Tilney gently rebukes Catherine for her outlandish suspicions regarding General Tilney. Henry implores Catherine, at the end of the twenty-fourth chapter, to keep in mind "the country and the age in which" they live, reminding her that they are English, and Christians. He also points to their education and to British law in

TOPICS FOR FURTHER STUDY

• In Northanger Abbey, Austen uses parody for comic effect. She references, either directly or indirectly, elements from the sentimental and Gothic romances she is satirizing, but rather than using such elements to advance the plot in her story, she makes fun of them, often by deflating their power. For example, the mysterious cabinet that is a stock feature in Gothic romances typically will yield an object that serves as a clue to a crime; in Northanger Abbey, the cabinet in Catherine's room, despite the suspenseful buildup, contains only some laundry bills. This form of humor is dependent on the reader's knowledge of the material the author is satirizing. What other forms of humor does Austen employ in the novel? Does she make use of less-literary devices? How effective is the humor in the novel for today's readers compared to how the novel was received in nineteenth-century England? Write an essay that addresses these concerns.
• In nineteenth-century England, the middle class was composed of professionals and small landowners who were prevented by their lack of greater wealth from being completely accepted by the upper class. Catherine is ejected from the Tilney's estate when the General discovers she has no substantial wealth. Study the growth and power of the middle class in England during this time period. What was the status of this group politically? What scientific or technological advancements contributed to the success of middle class professionals or to that of the laboring class? How did the upper classes react to the growth of the professional and working classes? Present your analysis in a report.
• Northanger Abbey provides a glimpse into the forms of entertainment enjoyed by the middle and upper classes in the resort town of Bath. Research these forms of entertainment and share with the class a slice of nineteenth-century living: play a recording of the type of music enjoyed in England during this time; read a selection from one of the Gothic novels that Catherine and her friends discuss; prepare a typical tea service or share another food typical of the day.
• In a scene in Northanger Abbey, Eleanor and Henry Tilney discuss with Catherine various artistic techniques for drawing landscapes, with Henry explaining foregrounding and perspective. Research the landscape drawings of the nineteenth century. How were English landscapes influenced by trends in European art at this time? After finding some examples of English landscape drawings, draw your own landscape emulating this style.

order to emphasize the ridiculous nature of her beliefs about his father. In short, he earnestly stresses the stability of England and the civility of the English people. Just a couple of pages later, Catherine will, in her own mind, concede the truth and logic of Henry's arguments. She states that other places in Europe might "be as fruitful in horrors" as those represented in Gothic novels. The "central part of England" with its "laws of the land and the manners of the age" offered a degree of security for unloved wives such as the late Mrs. Tilney. While she still believes that in other parts of the world people may have the characters of fiends or angels, in England people were simply a mixture of good and bad. Balancing this benign portrayal of England is the reference Eleanor Tilney makes about riots when she, Henry, and Catherine are out walking near Beechen Cliff. Henry has joked that the publication of a new Gothic novel might cause a riot in London, and Eleanor seems to fear an actual riot, a notion Henry swiftly dismisses. In fact, as Robert Hopkins notes in his 1978 essay on the political elements of Northanger Abbey, the English at the

turn of the century feared an invasion by the French, and were besieged with riots such as those involving protests over the high price of grain. Hopkins observes that Eleanor's "fear of a new riot was a very real one and characteristic of the 1790s."

STYLE

Sentimental and Gothic Romance

In the typical sentimental novel, which came into fashion in the mid-eighteenth century, the entrance into society of a young beautiful woman is the primary plot device. The "distress" the sentimental heroine faces—in the form of her delicate character being placed in a position in which her reputation and her prospects of securing a suitable husband are in jeopardy—is a common feature, or convention, of the sentimental novel. Northanger Abbey employs conventions of the sentimental novel, but in an ironic way, meant to draw attention to such behavior and criticize it. The trials Catherine suffers, which parallel those of the typical sentimental novel, trivialize the "suffering" caused by parties and dancing and the challenges of maintaining social acquaintances. Yet Austen builds on the conventions of the sentimental novel by exploring the details of everyday life in English society and by tracing Catherine's emotional development as she navigates her new relationships. Gothic romances of the mid- and late-eighteenth century were an offshoot of the sentimental novel and were intended to create a heightened, frightened response in the reader. Austen's treatment of Gothic conventions is similar to her treatment of sentimental conventions: she initially points out the limitations of the conventions of the genre, and then she employs them to her own advantage in telling Catherine's story. Henry Tilney offers a litany of Gothic conventions when he, on the way to Northanger Abbey with Catherine, attempts to frighten her, teasingly, with a Gothic-style narrative of his invention. His story features gloomy chambers, an aging housekeeper, a terrific storm, a mysterious chest that cannot be opened. Catherine in fact encounters many of these very things in Northanger Abbey, and here she looses touch with the simple and direct manner with which she usually approaches her world. Her imaginative responses to stormy dark nights and mysterious cabinets and gloomy corridors align her closely with the stock figures of Gothic romances. She willingly indulges her imagination and allows herself the reactions and corresponding suspicions of Gothic heroines, creating in her mind a crime commensurate with those she has read about in her novels (the death or imprisonment of General Tilney's wife at the General's hands). Catherine's time as a Gothic heroine is rather limited, however, for Henry Tilney's gentle rebuke when he learns of her suspicions is a powerful antidote for her unfounded theories.

Parody

Austen employs a style in Northanger Abbey that is referred to as parody (also known as burlesque; an imitation of a literary style featuring exaggeration for comic effect) or satire (use of irony and exaggeration for the purpose of criticizing and exposing shortcomings). Through the course of the novel, she points out conventions of romances of the time and gently mocks them by demonstrating their frivolous nature and by showing how a more meaningful effect can be achieved through greater attention to character rather than plot. Austen's narrator repeatedly refers to the differences between Catherine and the typical sentimental romance heroines. In her simpleness, unworldliness, and innocence, Catherine is found lacking as such a sentimental heroine, but as readers, we are intended to find this to be more of a virtue than a character flaw. In addition to satirizing sentimental novels through Catherine and her experiences, Austen offers a similar parody of Gothic novels by including direct references or more subtle allusions to elements from those novels (such as the setting of the medieval abbey, the mysterious cabinets and locked rooms contained there, and the stormy night that inspires many of Catherine's imaginings). Such elements, which often would have produced clues of some horrendous crime in Gothic novels, in fact have ordinary explanations in Northanger Abbey. Catherine's transformation of ordinary objects and events into mysteries, a habit inspired by an imagination fed by Gothic novels, is cured both by Henry Tilney's practical explanations and by Catherine's embracing of her own common sense and her rejection of her romantic imagination.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

French Revolution

While Austen's work is not overtly political, she wrote during a time of economic and social turmoil in England and Europe. The French Revolution began in 1789 and involved violent class conflict as well as the elimination of royal power in France. In 1793, the French King Louis XVI was executed as was his wife, Marie-Antoinette, later that year. As a period known as the "Reign of Terror" began, England declared war on France. Austen's brothers Francis and Charles served in the Royal Navy during this time. Having gained control of the French government and established a military dictatorship in 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte in 1804 crowned himself France's emperor. That same year, Spain declared war on Britain. Additionally, during the close of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth century, England was troubled by domestic upheavals. Not only were there riots over the price of grain, there were also tensions among small landholders and wage workers who were losing common rights when individual Acts of Parliament authorized land enclosures designed to promote more modern farming methods. At the same time, specialized workers and artisans were rebelling against the industrialization of textile production, industrialization that caused them to experience wage losses and reduced standards of living. Austen alludes to some of these riots when Eleanor expresses her fearfulness as Henry jokes that the release of a new Gothic novel will result in riots in London. With the nation at war with France and Spain and experiencing conflict at home, King George III of England, who had been battling mental illness for years, was declared insane in 1811. The Prince of Wales, who would later become King George IV, became regent at this time. Soon after, the fledgling nation of the United States declared war on Great Britain in 1812. Following the restoration of the Bourbon family to power in France, under the leadership of King Louis XVIII in 1813, Napoleon was defeated in 1815, at Waterloo.

Late Eighteenth-Century and Early Nineteenth-Century Women Authors

In Northanger Abbey, Austen makes direct reference to the works of other contemporary female authors. These authors include Fanny Burney, Maria Edgeworth, and Ann Radcliffe. Like Austen, these writers featured middle-class and upper-class characters and the struggles involved in navigating societal rules and relationships in the process of finding mates. Although the work of these women is often the target of Austen's parody, she nevertheless praises their prose efforts. While Austen, in Northanger Abbey, attempts (through her parody of sentimental and Gothic conventions, and by creating in Catherine a heroine who is the antithesis of traditional romantic heroines) to elevate the novel above the sentimental and Gothic conventions, she applauds women who have successfully created an alternative, professional future for themselves that exists outside the traditional, domestic roles women were typically allotted in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century British society. In her praise of her fellow female novelists in Northanger Abbey, Austen observes that these women display the highest achievement in observing human behavior and effectively conveying such observations of human nature with wit and humor.

CRITICAL OVERVIEW

Northanger Abbey is recognized as an early work by Austen, and many critics point to themes and techniques in this novel that she develops and executes with greater finesse in later works. The novel is often praised for its ability to effectively parody the conventions of sentimental and Gothic romances while utilizing and building on some of these conventions to tell an engaging story. The main problems critics identify in Northanger Abbey include the question of the consistency of Catherine's character, the apparent disunity of the Gothic portion with the rest of the book, and what is often seen as an unlikely climax of the story. In Jane Austen and the Didactic Novel, Jan Fergus stresses that such criticisms about character and plot consistencies are often generated from comparisons of Northanger Abbey with Austen's later novels. Fergus maintains that Northanger Abbey has different aims than the other novels and should be judged on its own merits. The work, Fergus stresses, "is one-dimensional, without the flimsiness that implies: immediacy, excitement and thrust are achieved and do in some degree compensate for losses in sustained or accumulated power."

COMPARE & CONTRAST

• 1800s: Gothic novels such as The Mysteries of Udolpho (which was written in 1794 by Ann Radcliffe) are popular with readers.

  Today: Many people seek out forms of entertainment remarkably similar to those enjoyed in the early nineteenth century. Books and movies intended to frighten, like horror novels by Stephen King (and the films based on them), are among the most popular forms of entertainment today.

• 1800s: Great Britain experiences an explosion of literary creativity during the late seventeenth century and the early eighteenth century. In addition to the sentimental novels of Frances Burney and the Gothic romances of Ann Radcliffe (Austen references the works of both writers in Northanger Abbey), English readers enjoy the works of such Romantic poets as William Blake and William Wordsworth, the historical novels of Sir Walter Scott, the philosophy of Dugald Stewart, and the theological writings of William Paley.

  Today: The works of British writers are incredibly diverse and reflect the multinational character of Great Britain. Modern British writers of both English and non-English descent include J. K. Rowling, Ian McEwan, Fred D'Aguiar, and Salman Rushdie.

• 1800s: In England, class tensions exist between the upper classes and the professional middle class. Additionally, conflicts ignite in the ranks of the working classes as they riot over the price of grain or the industrialization of various industries. (Austen references some of these tensions in Northanger Abbey.)

  Today: In Great Britain a major source of conflict is the rights of foreign workers in Great Britain. Fearing the unemployment of native British citizens, some groups and members of Parliament are calling for a limit to the number of foreign workers permitted to seek employment in Great Britain.

The issue of Catherine's inconsistent character is directly tied to that of the alleged disunity between the two sections of the novel. What is often cited as jarring about the onset of the Gothic section is the change that overcomes Catherine. Throughout most of the novel, Catherine is a rather direct and unsuspicious individual, but when she encounters elements that remind her of her Gothic novels, her imagination gets the best of her. As Douglas Bush observes in Jane Austen, Catherine never allows her imagination to override her "good sense and right-mindedness—except in regard to Henry's home and father." Bush additionally finds

that while the Gothic portion of the work does not ruin the effect of the work as a whole, the section may be viewed as "a conspicuous failure." John Hardy, writing in Jane Austen's Heroines: Intimacy in Human Relationships, links the problems in the Gothic section with the abrupt change in Catherine, stating that the issue stems in part from the fact that the "style in which Catherine responds to the assumed Gothic paraphernalia is in contrast to the unbookish freshness with which, in other respects, she articulates her feelings." Fergus takes a different approach when examining the Gothic section of the novel, arguing that, as a parody of Gothic conventions, the Northanger Abbey section is more effective than Austen's treatment of sentimental conventions in the early part of the book.

In General Consent in Jane Austen: A Study of Dialogism, Barbara K. Seeber charges that too many critics, while allowing that Catherine may have had some justification in being suspicious of General Tilney, seem to agree that Catherine's beliefs about his capacity for violence simply go too far. Seeber offers another way to view this subject, and argues that "domestic tyranny can extend to murder; while critics of Northanger Abbey complacently rule this out, the novel does not." The critic asserts that between the extremes of the Gothic villain that Catherine imagines and the novel's portrayal of the General as not the most amiable of men, lies the possibility that he is capable of domestic violence. The novel, Seeber stresses, does not confirm or deny this possibility.

Given the shifting targets of Austen's parody and her arguably ambiguous aims, critics often attempt to elucidate some aspects of the work while acknowledging the complexities of deciphering other areas of the text. Others dismiss the complications inherent in the work as the result of the novel being one of Austen's earlier efforts. In Jane Austen and Narrative Authority, Tara Ghoshal Wallace concludes that "Northanger Abbey refuses to yield a stable vision, either moral or aesthetic."

CRITICISM

Catherine Dominic

Dominic is a novelist and freelance editor and writer. In this essay on Northanger Abbey, Dominic examines the relationship between Catherine Morland and Henry Tilney, demonstrating the way in which this relationship unifies the disparatesections of the novel by virtue of its unsentimental nature.

At the heart of Northanger Abbey is the relationship between Catherine Morland and Henry Tilney. The emotional ties developed between them are often lost in critical debates regarding the efficacy of Austen's parody or in attempts to discern her possible political or social criticisms, analyses, and observations. Yet it is the relationship between Catherine and Henry that provides the unity and the broad appeal of the story for both the intellectual reader engaged in the dissection of Austen's irony and for the casual reader seeking to be entertained by the nineteenth-century version of a romantic comedy. While Austen parodies many elements of sentimental and Gothic fiction in the course of the novel, a slow and steady constant in the story is the development of the relationship between Catherine and Henry. It is not a relationship based on love at first sight, nor is it sensationalized in any way. Rather, the two characters share warm conversation, often comic exchanges, and an ability to express themselves with candor that few of the other characters in the book share. It is not difficult to see why they are drawn to one another, and despite the abrupt turns and shocks of Austen's parody, the reader is satisfyingly returned on a regular basis to the growing romantic interest Henry and Catherine have for each other.

WHAT DO I READ NEXT?

• Persuasion, written by Jane Austen and published in 1818 along with Northanger Abbey, was the last novel that Austen completed before she died. It is a valuable source of comparison with Northanger Abbey.
• Jane Austen's Letters (2003) offers a glimpse into the biographical particulars of Austen's life and demonstrates the same wit that is evident in her fiction.
• The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), by Ann Radcliffe, is repeatedly referenced by Austen in Northanger Abbey and is an excellent example of the Gothic romance genre.
• Camilla; or, A Picture of Youth (1796), by Fanny Burney, is an example of the sentimental romance genre that Austen parodies in Northanger Abbey. Like The Mysteries of Udolpho, Camilla is referenced directly in Northanger Abbey.
• Jane Austen: The World of Her Novels (2006), by Deirdre Le Faye, provides a detailed historical context designed to aid in the understanding of, and appreciation for, Austen's novels. The author includes coverage of such topics as foreign political affairs, social issues, fashion, and details about everyday living.

Catherine and Henry meet early on in the story, at the beginning of the third chapter. In addition to finding Henry's appearance pleasing, Catherine responds to the "fluency and spirit" with which he converses, and it is through their conversations that their initial bond is formed. Henry is the first person in Bath, besides the Allens, with whom Catherine has any extended conversations. Catherine will soon find, when she meets the Thorpes in the following chapter, that Henry is unique in his ability to appreciate her innocent candor and not treat it as deliberate coyness. She becomes frustrated as the novel progresses in the way both Isabella and John either infer that she has motives that she does not in fact possess, or the way in which the siblings misrepresent her to others. But from the beginning, Henry is able to respond to her honesty, and urge her to continue to be frank with him. When she unsuccessfully attempts social artifice, trying to keep some thoughts about him private by telling him she has not been thinking of anything, Catherine cannot avoid blushing. Henry replies that he would rather be told, simply, that she will not tell him what she is thinking, and then comments that now that they are acquainted, he will be able to tease her about this incident, and that "nothing in the world advances intimacy so much."

Catherine's attraction for Henry increases with each minute she spends with John Thorpe, who shows himself to be materialistic and rather annoying in general. Catherine politely accepts his company on occasion to please Isabella, but her thoughts remain with Henry. When Henry and Catherine share a dance at the ball after being interrupted and delayed by John Thorpe, Henry expresses some irritation, and perhaps jealousy, by comparing the dance to a marriage and suggesting to Catherine that as she has agreed to dance with him, he should not have to share her company with another man. While Catherine refuses to concede that his comparison has merit, she assures him that she has no desire to dance with another man anyway. Henry replies that with this admission, she has offered him "a security worth having." A discussion ensues about Bath and the entertainments it offers, and Henry is described as being amused by Catherine's earnest responses. Such instances are sometimes taken as evidence that Henry condescendingly views Catherine as childish. In fact it could be argued that he is delighted to have an opportunity to see Bath and its society through Catherine's more innocent and optimistic eyes. When she asks who could possibly ever tire of Bath, Henry replies: "Not those who bring such fresh feelings of every sort to it, as you do."

Later conversations are also cited as evidence of Henry's patronizing attitude toward Catherine. When they discuss novels in the fourteenth chapter of Northanger Abbey, Henry describes how he has enjoyed many Gothic novels, and Catherine replies that, knowing this, she will not be ashamed to like them herself. This is evidence of Catherine's own youth and social inexperience rather than an indication of Henry's personality. The conversation turns to the picturesque scenery and to drawing, and Catherine's feelings of ignorance get the better of her. While Henry does provide an instructional discussion on the topic of drawing landscapes, it is at Catherine's request. While she is uncertain of herself in some circumstances, particularly when she is not sure what is deemed socially acceptable, Catherine stands up for herself quite forcefully when she feels she has been misrepresented by John Thorpe to the Tilneys. In order to protect her nascent relationships with Eleanor and Henry, she clearly expresses her frustrations to the Thorpes and proceeds as quickly as she can to the Tilneys to right the possibly incorrect assumptions they may have drawn.

That Henry does have moments of condescension cannot be denied, however, as when he makes a jest that he is "noble" enough to explain to Catherine and his sister Eleanor. He later states that "no one can think more highly of the understanding of women than I do. In my opinion, nature has given them so much, that they never find it necessary to use more than half." His backhanded compliment is disregarded by Eleanor as teasing. Yet his views, at times uncharitable though characteristic of the time period, do not undercut his affection for and appreciation of Catherine. When the two converse about Henry's brother Frederick and his flirtation with Isabella, who is engaged to Catherine's brother James, Catherine presses Henry about his brother's feelings. Henry replies to the best of his abilities: his brother can be "thoughtless," and he "can only guess at" his brother's intentions. Henry does attempt to impress upon Catherine the fact that it is Isabella's motivations that perhaps should be a source of greater concern. In this instance, and when Henry disabuses Catherine of her suspicions about General Tilney having killed or locked up his wife, Henry gently attempts to provide Catherine with a means of more accurately ascertaining people's motivations. He advocates analysis over assumption. At the same time, where his father is concerned, Henry is somewhat blinded by familial loyalty to the truth that General Tilney has the propensity for cruelty, although he does concede that, while his mother was alive, she may have suffered from the General's lack of tenderness: "though his temper injured her, his judgment never did," Henry states. In this unwillingness to acknowledge the shortcomings of loved ones, Henry is like Catherine, who assumes that people operate with good intentions (Henry's father being the exception to Catherine's usual rule). Respectfully, Henry does not mention Catherine's suspicions about General Tilney to anyone, or to her, and for this Catherine is grateful. While Catherine's suspicions seem to run counter to her usual nature, and although this is often cited as part of the discontinuous nature of the novel, the sequence as a whole allows for Catherine and Henry to deepen their relationship by allowing the couple to witness flaws in one another, flaws that neither party uses as a basis for rejection.

Not long after this episode, Catherine learns of Isabella's inconstancy, and she finds with some surprise that, although Henry presumes she would feel terribly sad at having lost a friend, she in fact does not feel as "afflicted as one would have thought." Catherine has learned that the loss of false friends provides one with little to mourn, while Henry learns that Catherine will continue to challenge his notions regarding female behavior. Following this incident, Catherine, though fearful she might have to leave the abbey should Frederick return to announce an engagement with Isabella, stays on at the Tilney estate. Henry and Catherine openly express their mutual feelings of disappointment when Henry needs to be away at Woodston (where he serves as a clergyman). On several occasions, Henry hints at an engagement, although Catherine does not seem attuned to these clues. Before he can propose, however, Catherine is expelled from the abbey by General Tilney's orders. As Henry will later explain, the General had learned that Catherine lacked the fortune the General had previously understood her to possess. Henry follows Catherine to her home as soon as he learns of her departure, openly defying the General. In relating the subsequent events, the narrator explains that "Henry was now sincerely attached" to Catherine, "and delighted in all the excellencies of her character and truly loved her society" but that the attraction began because Catherine's "partiality for [Henry] had been the only cause of [him] giving her a serious thought." While the narrator explains that of course this is insulting to the dignity of a heroine, this statement is intended ironically, for Catherine has not fit the mold of the sentimental conventional heroine throughout the course of the entire novel. Prior to this, when Catherine has been compared unfavorably to a typical heroine, it has been clear that Catherine is to be applauded for her avoidance of resembling such a woman. While a vain sentimental heroine might be insulted, it is unlikely that the practical Catherine would be troubled by such knowledge. Furthermore, Catherine's and Henry's relationship cannot be diminished by the observation that Catherine was more attracted to Henry at the onset than he to her, for their feelings deepened with each subsequent conversation. Regardless of the origin of the initial attraction, a realistic relationship developed in a reasonable fashion over the course of the novel, a relationship aided as much by Catherine's development into a young woman who is able to appreciate the difference between fiction and reality as by Henry's new-found knowledge that not all women conform to his ideas of feminine behavior. Henry recognizes and appreciates that Catherine sees the world differently from most of the women he knows: she is not blinded by social conventions and manners, nor is she sentimental enough to spend too much time grieving the loss of a false friend. It is for forays into realism such as the unsensationalized development of the romance between Catherine and Henry that Northanger Abbey is said to anticipate Austen's later works.

Source: Catherine Dominic, Critical Essay on Northanger Abbey, in Novels for Students, Gale, Cengage Learning, 2009.

Jenna R. Bergmann

In the following excerpt, Bergmann contends that Austen's use of the motif of "the blush" in Northanger Abbey reveals nineteenth-century notions of gender roles and responses.

… The blush in Austen's work functions as commentary on the pervasiveness of the ideology that dictates its expression. This ideology distinctly emerges in the following riddle, published in the conservative Elegant Extracts in 1803, which offered young women insight into the function and connotation of the blush:

Roseate tint of purest virtue,
Bloom ethereal, Blush divine!
Bidding, by thy sweet suffusion,
Loveliness more lovely shine!
More than beauty's fairest feature,
More than form's most perfect grace;
Touching the fond heart, and giving
Softest charms to ev'ry face!
Test of quick-empassioned feeling;
Jewel, in the dower of youth;
Modesty's unquestioned herald;
Pledge of innocence and truth!
Infant passion's varying banner;
Trembling consciousness display'd!—
Lover, seize the fleeting meteor;
Catch the rainbow ere it fade!

In this formulation, the blush, connected to purity and divinity, simultaneously addresses the gaze of a male lover urged to take advantage of the blush's fleeting nature. Austen plays ironically with this ideologically over-determined convention when Northanger Abbey's rake, Frederick Tilney, flirts with the mercenary, husband-hunting Isabella Thorpe, telling her that her eyes are "tormented" because "the edge of a blooming cheek is still in view—at once too much and too little." Isabella's seductively innocent posturing collapses the gap between the blush as a sign of innocent virtue and a symbol of sexual arousal, revealing the problematic nature of the non-verbal gesture and the importance of reading such signs correctly. An especially perplexing sign, the blush connotes widely divergent and culturally weighted meanings. In his writing on Jane Austen and the body, John Wiltshire notes that "The blush is not a straightforward phenomenon of the body, rather one of the acutest signs of the bodily enigma… Its phenomenology is puzzling, and its signification is problematic, but it does, in all its varieties, represent clearly a form of the juncture between the body and culture, and functions as a miniaturised version of hysteria, the embodied correlate of a social affect" (19). The blush, then, becomes not only a site of contestation and competing desire, but also a disease that invades the body, as in hysteria. In the verse from Elegant Extracts, the blush is a "bloom" which beautifies women by its "sweet suffusion." In this manner, the blush enslaves the somatic system, denying the blusher agency in her own physical expression and possessing her body by a naturalization and internalization of social convention and its resultant neurophysiological response. Consequently, the riddled phrase "Trembling consciousness display'd" (1.14) reveals intimate connections among mind, body, and emotion in the production of the "roseate tint."

The majority of Northanger Abbey deals with the color of Catherine's cheeks in relation to increasingly embarrassing social situations and mis-readings. Before Catherine begins her "training for a heroine," she displays "a sallow skin without colour." At this young age, Catherine, not yet inured to the social expectations of her as a woman, lacks the knowledge requisite to effect a blush. Read in terms of the Somatic-Marker Hypothesis, her culture has not yet programmed Catherine with the positive and negative bodily signals that will eventually "teach" her body how to act and react. Catherine is effectively inscribed with the conventions of her culture only when she begins to "read all such works as heroines must read to supply their memories with those quotations which are so serviceable and so soothing in the vicissitudes of their eventful lives." She consciously "creates" her own memory, constructing herself out of the literary platitudes of her time, such as Gray's ‘Many a flower is born to blush unseen.’

Once ideology imprints Catherine with what cognitive neuroscience terms a "body-minded brain," analysis of the blush as a somatic response can begin. As Catherine progresses from young girl to self-professed heroine, she remains attentive to her status as such. In an early scene, as Henry Tilney approaches, she responds appropriately with a smile and a blush of awareness at his proximity. Yet Henry does not see her, "and therefore the smile and the blush, which his sudden reappearance raised in Catherine, passed away without sullying her heroic importance." Significantly, Austen uses the word "heroic," recalling a specifically male act of bravery and courage. In this way, Austen implies a connection between the blush and the female; when the narrator notes that Catherine's blush "passed away without sullying her heroic importance," Austen distinguishes between heroism and ideological susceptibility, suggesting the female hero's awareness of the constructs that shape women's behavior in society. As the riddle reveals, blushing, the realm of the female, exists for the male lover to "seize" and possess as he might the woman herself. Catherine displays femininity, in that she has been stamped by the blush, and masculinity, in her evasion of Henry's gaze; she at once embodies the contradictory spaces of innocent purity and desiring sexuality.

Catherine, spotting Henry before he observes her, continues to occupy this ostensibly paradoxical space. Austen implies that had Henry viewed Catherine's blush, she would have become defenseless, objectified, and stripped of any power she might possess. Yet, because Henry does not see Catherine first, she straddles two socially constructed gender roles: female vulnerability and male heroism. By seeing Henry first, Catherine buys herself the time needed to permit the fleeting blush to fade; thus, she retains the power afforded her by spotting Henry before he spots her. Yet exactly what causes the blush remains enigmatic. Does the blush arise because Catherine loves Henry, even at this early stage of the novel? Is she embarrassed because she may eventually become the focal point of his gaze? Does it indicate growing awareness of her own physicality and sexuality? Cognitive neuroscience addresses this type of problematic nonverbal gesture. Clearly, Catherine's mind and body act in a nondualistic manner, engaging in a conversation occurring on an unconscious level. Perhaps, then, Catherine's lack of control over herself and her somatic expression makes her blush significant. Had Henry seen Catherine blushing, he would have observed her shame and embarrassment at the loss of her physical control and power. As a result, she could no longer have remained heroic because heroism precludes vulnerability to social conditioning and constructed notions of femininity. Yet the gender confusion emerges in this scene as a by-product not only of power relations between Catherine and Henry, but also of a system of communication between the mind inscribed with cultural codes and the body which selects the blush as an appropriate, albeit involuntary, response to a particular social situation.

Since Catherine's physical awareness of one blush generates another, its spread mimics the contagion and transmission of disease; effective communication between mind and body becomes integral to combating this "foreign" influence. When Catherine shows Henry a potentially implicating letter, she tries to edit the contents before she hands it over, "recollecting with a blush the last line." Reconsidering, she nearly throws the letter at Henry, "blushing again that she had blushed before." In this sense, the conflict between innocence and sexuality plays out on Catherine's cheeks: her first blush stems from a fear of her own attraction to Henry, while the second comes from a persuasion of her own innocence and purity. Catherine's body has internalized and copied ideologies onto the fibers of her system, causing her to exhibit a second blush, which effectively "colonizes" her body by depriving her of any means of controlling her own bodily expression. The emotions that Catherine experiences in this particular scene, embarrassment and attraction, function as physical signals. Based on their pervasiveness, Catherine's blushes respond to particular somatic markers; their frequency also owes to the fact that in certain situations, the second blush proves an unavoidable result of the first.

This episode begs the question of how the mind can unconsciously "weed out" undesirable responses. The blush, as a non-verbal response, serves a basic survival function, remaining an oft-viewed involuntary response. I have already discussed how the blush relates to gendered notions of femininity and female sexuality. In both Northanger Abbey and the riddle, the blush functions as a sign that makes "Loveliness more lovely shine!" (1.4). The blush makes Catherine more attractive and more desirable to Henry or any other man who happens to see her blush. As in the scene where Frederick Tilney tells Isabella of his torment caused by the slightest view of her "blooming cheek," the blush helps promote the survival of the organism by making the female of the species more attractive to the male. Therefore, when the body processes its signal, it selects the available responses based not only on attention to social convention but also on the survival of the species. The blush functions as an aphrodisiac, a response of almost hypnotic quality.

The mind and body's susceptibility to cultural stimuli makes the system vulnerable to external manipulation. For example, as seen above, the blush functions as a form of disease that opposes mind and body to a "foreign" influence which threatens to enslave the organic system. Yet other external forces, such as erotic play, similarly threaten to disturb the "natural" operation of the system. For example, Henry Tilney sets out consciously to draw a blush from Catherine. Deeply involved with Catherine in a discussion about language, Henry censors one of his own remarks, warning Catherine that should she desire him to speak his mind, "it will involve [her] in a very cruel embarrassment, and certainly bring on a disagreement between [them]." Knowing that Catherine will urge him to tell all, Henry draws her into an erotic game where the blush functions as a subtext. Not surprisingly, when Henry reveals his censored comments as nothing more than a compliment regarding Catherine's "superior good nature," Catherine "blush[es] and disclaim[s], and the gentleman's predictions [are] verified." While cultural discourse suggests that a lady should blush when complimented, Catherine's blush is not entirely devoid of erotic desire; the manifestation of the blush on her cheeks forces Catherine to become aware of her own physicality, and the act of blushing becomes metonymic for intimate physical contact.

As early as 1797, six years before the completion of Northanger Abbey and twenty-one years before its publication, Erasmus Darwin noted in Zoonomia that "The blush of joy is owing to the increased action of the capillary arteries, along with that of every moving vessel in the body, from the increase of pleasurable sensation" (387). He further remarked that hot skin results from "an orgasm of the cutaneous capillaries" (Darwin 234) and that "In every kind of blush, the arterial blood is propelled into the capillaries faster than the venous absorption can carry it forwards into the veins, in this respect resembling the tensio phalli" (Darwin 60), or, in translation, the erect phallus. Finally, Darwin asserted that "The blush of young girls on coming into an assembly room, where they expect their dress, and steps, and manner to be examined, as in dancing a minuet, may have another origin; and may be considered as a hot fit of returning confidence, after a previous cold fit of fear" (151). Thus, Darwin connected the blush intimately with both self-consciousness and a discourse of male sexuality.

Darwin's male bias focuses on the relation between the blush and male arousal. The riddle also exemplifies this mode of conventional thinking, whereby the male lover's "seizing" the blush is akin to seizing the woman. However, in Pleasures Taken: Performances of Sexuality and Loss in Victorian Photographs, Carol Mavor notes that "Although the conduct books and the English novels of the period, which feature the modest woman as a subject for the narrative, often stress the pleasure affected on others when a young woman diffuses crimson on her cheek, there is no reason for us to believe that it could not (and did not) give pleasure to women as well" (112). Thus, while Henry Tilney's "predictions were verified" in Catherine's blush, and while he derives pleasure from her reddened embarrassment, the pleasure Catherine receives from Henry's erotic play complicates conventional thinking. Shortly after her blush, Catherine forgets where she is and loses track of time, concentrating wholly on Henry's praise and all its possible connotations. As the narrator relates, "There was a something, however, in [Henry's] words which repaid her for the pain of confusion; and that something occupied her mind so much, that she drew back for some time, forgetting where she was." Almost as if experiencing an afterglow, Catherine forgets time and place, an effect stemming from her awareness of Henry's pleasure at his ability to excite a blush from her skin. Thus, Catherine's blush enacts a form of auto-eroticism in that she pleasures herself by pleasing Henry. Therefore, Catherine's blushes become complicated by Henry's manipulation of ideological conventions.

The blush's close connection with both the mind's awareness of social convention and the body's awareness of its own sexuality makes it a striking example of a non-verbal gesture that forces reconsideration of other textual examples of Romantic anti-dualism. While this ideology seemingly bifurcates modesty and sensuality, modesty constitutes the ultimate erotic charge. Thus, although Henry "pleasures" Catherine with something as alien to the organic system as cultural codes and erotic play, read in terms of cognitive neuroscience, these seemingly unrelated influences become integral to understanding the connections between mind and body. The body's internalization of ideology enables the system to use previously "unimportant" and "irrational" experiences such as feelings to produce the "most correct" bodily response. Without this encoding, positive and negative somatic markers would be unable to effect any impact on the mind's process of response selection.

In conclusion, in the Biographical Notice printed in the 1818 edition of Northanger Abbey, Henry Austen notes of his sister Jane that "her eloquent blood spoke through her modest cheek." Significantly, while Henry Austen objectifies Jane in the way that the riddle writer subjects women to the male gaze, Austen plays with these objectifications and ideologies, as demonstrated by the final blush of the novel, which belongs to a man. In relaying his father's unfriendly and tyrannical ultimatum to Catherine, Henry "blushed for the narrow-minded counsel which he was obliged to expose." Initially, Austen appears to invert the conventional male/female binary, where women blush and men are heroes. Yet throughout Northanger Abbey, she constructs Henry Tilney as the epitome of an effeminate male interested in and knowledgeable about muslin and lace, and able to discourse easily on such topics with Mrs. Allen. As Henry playfully asserts, "I always buy my own cravats, and am allowed to be an excellent judge; and my sister has often trusted me in the choice of a gown. I bought one for her the other day, and it was pronounced to be a prodigious bargain by every lady who saw it. I gave but five shillings a yard for it, and a true Indian muslin." Furthermore, Henry accurately refers to Catherine's dress as "a sprigged muslin robe with blue trimmings," and declares to her, "My dear madam, I am not so ignorant of young ladies' ways as you wish to believe me." Though obviously teasing and ironic, he exhibits unexpected and thorough knowledge about the female realm: When Henry teases the ladies, he cross-dresses by "putting on" the airs of a woman while retaining phallic control; however, when Henry blushes at the end of the novel, the joke is on him—the pedagogical and confident young hero ultimately loses his volition and power. In addition, his disingenuous discussion of ladies garments makes him a tyrant who uses language to gain power and exercise control rather than to express a true interest in muslin and lace. Austen therefore reinforces rather than breaks down the gender binary. Through the use of the blush in Northanger Abbey, Austen strives to expose not the falsity of cultural ideology but rather its brutal, universal presence.

Source: Jenna R. Bergmann, "Romantic Anti-Dualism and the Blush in Northanger Abbey," in Wordsworth Circle, Vol. 33, No. 1, Winter 2002, 5 pp.

SOURCES

Austen, Jane, Northanger Abbey, Barnes & Noble Classics, 2005.

Bush, Douglas, Review of Northanger Abbey, in Jane Austen, Macmillan, 1975, pp. 55-70.

Fergus, Jan, Review of Northanger Abbey, in Jane Austen and the Didactic Novel, Macmillan, 1983, pp. 11-38.

Hardy, John, "Catherine Morland," in Jane Austen's Heroines: Intimacy in Human Relationships, Routledge & Keegan Paul, 1984, pp. 1-18.

Hopkins, Robert, "General Tilney and the Affairs of State: The Political Gothic of Northanger Abbey," in Jane Austen: Critical Assessments, edited by Ian Littlewood, Helm Information, 1998, pp. 175-85.

McKillop, Alan D., "Critical Realism in Northanger Abbey," in Jane Austen: Critical Assessments, edited by Ian Littlewood, Helm Information, 1998, pp. 140-49.

Neill, Edward, "The Secret of Northanger Abbey," in Essays in Criticism, Vol. 47, No. 1, January 1997, pp. 13-32.

Seeber, Barbara K., "‘Unnatural and Overdrawn’: ‘Alarming Violence’ in Northanger Abbey," in General Consent in Jane Austen: A Study of Dialogism, McGill-Queen's University Press, 2000, pp. 116-26.

Wallace, Tara Ghoshal, "Northanger Abbey and the Limits of Parody," in Jane Austen and Narrative Authority, St. Martin's Press, 1995, pp. 17-30.

FURTHER READING

Mendus, Susan, ed., Sexuality and Subordination: Interdisciplinary Studies of Gender in the Nineteenth Century, Routledge, 1989.

Mendus discusses the construction of gender roles in nineteenth-century Britain and France. The work will provide the reader of Austen's novels with valuable information on traditional constructions of femininity in Britain during this time period.

Payne, Christiana, and William Vaughan, eds., English Accents: Interactions with British Art c. 1776-1855 (British Art and Visual Culture Since 1750, New Readings), Ashgate Publishing, 2004.

The editors of this volume provide a collection of essays discussing the ways in which British art, such as the kind discussed by Austen's characters in Northanger Abbey, was perceived by the international art community in the late-eighteenth and early- to mid-nineteenth centuries.

Reeve, Katharine, Jane Austen in Bath: Walking Tours of the Writer's City, Little Bookroom, 2006.

Austen lived in Bath and set two of her novels there (Northanger Abbey and Persuasion). Reeve provides descriptions of the places Austen and her characters visited.

Tomalin, Claire, Jane Austen: A Life, Vintage, 1999.

In this biography, Tomalin provides a widely respected and oft-cited account of Austen's life.