Discuss Austen’s use of the gothic in Northanger Abbey
There is a division between the two sections of this novel; the part in Bath and the part involving the abbey. The first part, being the Bath section is contains an element of the gothic because Catherine and her companion Isabella read (novels very popular at the time). There is a link with the second section which is to do with the gothic element which is Catherine and her companion’s reading of gothic novels. The beginning section is romantic but is eclipsed by the strong gothic component in the Northanger section. There is a ostensibly peculiar change in Catherine's character from literal and mundane to over imaginative in the respective sections; "a fundamental incongruity devolves around the uneasy coexistence of the novel's two sections: self-contained Gothic burlesque is grafted unceremoniously upon sentimental comedy of manners” . This whole issue makes the novel less easy to comprehend. In Bath and at Northanger Abbey, Catherine with her romantic fantasies influenced by Gothic novels, especially The Mysteries of Udolpho, experiences a painful procedure of disillusionment and becomes more mature. She learns to tell who is her true friend, the meaning of true love, and how to distinguish reality from fantasy.
ps over simplified way of explaining and helping with the understanding of the novel is done by critics who argue that the novel's coherency can be broken down into roughly two categories: “coherency through use of genre and modes (technical and intertextual concerns) and thematic coherency” The novels which Catherine reads during the first section of ‘Northanger Abbey’ were especially popular amongst women in the eighteenth century. Austen completely ridicules gothic literature through Catherine’s thoughts concerning the Tilney’s home at Northanger Abbey. The satire of conventional literature is ubiquitous throughout the novel and is not anticipated to be subtle to the obscure reader. Although our generation is would not have been her target audience, the reader can still recognise the contrast of both the conventional and satirical forms of literature. Northanger Abbey although a modern and pleasant place of residence is transformed into a creepy gothic castle with torture chambers where murders have occurred and people are kept prisoner. This is clearly a mockery of the gothic, which is mentioned several times throughout the novel and is finally humorously brought to life in Catherine’s imagination. If Northanger Abbey was truly meant to be a gothic novel then the descriptions of the Tilney residence and Catherine’s suspensions would certainly have been justified. However, due to the entertaining and satirical tone of the novel the gothic style of writing does not fit in and has no place in the story. Therefore, it can only be assumed that the author wished to intentionally make fun of these novels and also make the reader conscious of it. We know the Tilney residence does not actually correspond with
Some topics in this essay:
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Mysteries Udolpho,
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Henry Tilney,
Jane Austen,
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Approximate Word count = 1174
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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