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Northanger Abbey

            Northanger Abbey is a novel that is about more than a girl who is looking to find a husband. Its author Jane Austen is able to create a type of gothic parody that through out the novel is integrated into the characterization and able to show the realities of a young girl growing up in a complicated and complex adult society. Jane Austen is able to critique society as well by sharing her opinion in this novel. Northanger Abbey is an excellent novel because it shows the society reflected in many ways throughout the novel therefore giving the reader an inside knowledge of the time period.
             During the time period that this novel was written the gothic novel was a main piece of literature that was read. Jane Austen and Samuel Coleridge both did not agree that this was necessarily a good influence on society. They each believed that it was somewhat harmful, but they did not all together have the same opinion. .
             Samuel Coleridge shares his opinion of gothic novels stating that they have no value. Coleridge thought that gothic novels provide unfathomable characters that the gothic romance authors have come up with very quickly and have not put much thought into. He also suggests that these books are mindless; they include no effort or thinking to read. Coleridge's opinion of the novel suggests that the elements in the gothic novels were not important to its understanding as a romance novel. It might imply his understanding of the world came from a different view point, one of the future. .
             Considering that he went on to write "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner- which was very gothic shows that he did not completely discredit the gothic novels value. He must have recognized that the gothic novels were able to capture the reader's attention with the elements that they possess. He may have felt that in order to gain readership he needed to include some gothic elements, but include them in a way that does not leave the writing mindless.


Essays Related to Northanger Abbey

1. Discuss Austen's use of the gothic in Northanger Abbey

Henry Tilney's story that he tells her on the way to Northanger Abbey is a key example of where her Northanger gothic fantasies begin. ... Austen completely ridicules gothic literature through Catherine's thoughts concerning the Tilney's home at Northanger Abbey. ... 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. ... If Northanger Abbey was truly meant to be a gothic novel then the descriptions of the Tilney residence and Catherine&#x...

  • Word Count: 1174
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

2. Northanger Abbey

The Characterization Of Catherine Morland And Details Of Her Experiences As Criticism Of The Gothic Novel Jane Austen consciously refers to and comments on the standards and conventions of the gothic genre in her novel Northanger Abbey. ... Northanger Abbey can almost be read as a model for its readers on how to live happy, fulfilling lives while avoiding the authentic tyranny that exists, which would satisfy Samuel Johnson. ... Instead of the terror of the Spanish Inquisition and inexplicable haunting by ghosts, Northanger Abbey shows what really to be afraid of in modern English society: ...

  • Word Count: 777
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

3. Mental Development in Northanger Abbey

In Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, the characterization of the protagonist -Catherine Morland- seems to be constructed by her own fantasies, extracted by her reading of Gothic novels and her simple and naive thinking, which corresponds to her equally simple actions. ... Jane Austen uses the alienation of the protagonist in Northanger Abbey to establish a mental development, triggered by prodding the bubble fabricated by Catherine through means of fantasies and irrational thinking, by changing her social environment and surroundings. ... This exposition (Klarer 175) of her mental develop...

  • Word Count: 1240
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

4. Biography of Jane Austen

In her early twenties Jane Austen wrote the novels that were late published as Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Northanger Abbey. ... Some readers wonder whether the childhood of the character Catherine Morland in Jane Austen's novel Northanger Abbey might reflect her own personal childhood. ...

  • Word Count: 427
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Austen & the Female Gaze: Success or Defeat?

Deciding whether or not Austen was exhibiting a female gaze can best be determined by comparing the role of the gaze in Austen's most widely known novel, Pride and Prejudice, and the novel that stands out among her others, Northanger Abbey. ... In Northanger Abbey, on the other hand, the majority of the men are not portrayed in a positive light at all. ... The other main male character in Northanger Abbey is Henry Tilney, who, we are told, is the hero of the novel. ... Rather than men flaunting their freedom and authority over women, we find men fighting for some recognition of importa...

  • Word Count: 4152
  • Approx Pages: 17
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Life of the Author

In the next novel Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen portrays bits of her life into Northanger Abbey, sometimes using contrasting ideas to do it. ... (Northanger Abbey 14 and 15). ... The next comparison and contrast I made between Catherine and Austen was the fact that the city of Bath was used in the writing of Northanger Abbey, but it was also a part of Austen's life. ...

  • Word Count: 1480
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Morland

Catherine Morland grew with time on her lengthy journey to self-discovery in Jane Austen's classic tale Northanger Abbey, by learning valuable lessons about society, reality as oppose to imagination, and herself. ... When invited by the Tilneys to be a guest at their extensive estate, Northanger Abbey, she is greatly amused at the thought of reenacting one of her favourite Gothic novels, The Mysteries of Udolpho, by Ann Radcliffe. Before even setting foot near the grounds of the abbey, she is already convinced it will be a place of mystery, adventure and intrigue, a place where she could ...

  • Word Count: 1443
  • Approx Pages: 6

8. Write an essay on Jane Austen and manners

I will examine Austen's Northanger Abbey and Pride and Prejudice, observing the use of manners and the significance attached to its literary convention. As we follow our young narrator, Catherine Morland, through the social rituals which ultimately test the quality of her polite performance, we are able to witness Northanger Abbey's obvious interest in conveying the connection between proper manners and a healthy society. ... She realises that the way in which the General dismisses her from Northanger Abbey is a complete breach of good manners. ...

  • Word Count: 1637
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

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