Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen on iBooks This book is available for download with iBooks on your Mac or iOS device, and with iTunes on your computer. Books can be read with iBooks on your Mac or iOS device. Description The Author There was nothing of the literary woman in the external affairs of her life and its conduct. Born on 16 December, 1775, at Steventon in Hampshire, of which her father was rector, and dying at Winchester on 18 July, 1817, she passed the intervening years almost entirely in the country. She lived with her family in Bath from 1801 to 1806, and at Southampton from 1806 to 1809. From 1811 until 1816, with the release of Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816), she achieved success as a published writer.

She wrote two additional novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in 1818, and began a third, which was eventually titled Sanditon. Austen died in Winchester on 18 July 1817, at the age of 41, before completing it. The Novel Of the six published novels, Northanger Abbey is, probably, that which comes nearest to being Jane Austen’s earliest work. Northanger Abbey was the first of Jane Austen's novels to be completed for publication, though she had previously made a start on Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice. According to Cassandra Austen's Memorandum, Susan (as it was first called) was written approximately during 1798–99. It was revised by Austen for the press in 1803, and sold in the same year for £10 to a London bookseller, Crosby & Co., who decided against publishing.

In 1817, the bookseller was content to sell it back to the novelist's brother, Henry Austen, for the exact sum — £10 — that he had paid for it at the beginning, not knowing that the writer was by then the author of four popular novels. The novel was further revised before being brought out posthumously in late December 1817 (1818 given on the title-page), as the first two volumes of a four-volume set with Persuasion. Northanger Abbey is fundamentally a parody of Gothic fiction. Austen turns the conventions of eighteenth-century novels on their head, by making her heroine a plain and undistinguished girl from a middle-class family, allowing the heroine to fall in love with the hero before he has a serious thought of her, and exposing the heroine's romantic fears and curiosities as groundless. Several Gothic novels are mentioned in the book, including most importantly The Mysteries of Udolpho and The Italian by Ann Radcliffe. Austen also satirizes Clermont, a Gothic novel by Regina Maria Roche. This last is included in a list of seven somewhat obscure Gothic works, known as the 'Northanger horrid novels'.

Literary Allusions On Sir Walter Scott — Miss Austen's novels, especially Emma and Northanger Abbey, were great favourites with Scott, and he often read chapters of them to his evening circle. Thomas Henry Lister, 1826 in „Granby“, Chapter 10: ― "Now I hardly know whether you are joking or not. I think not―you look so serious. But do tell me your favourite novels. I hope you like nothing of Miss Edgeworth's or Miss Austen's. They are full of common-place people, that one recognises at once. You cannot think how I was disappointed in Northanger Abbey, and Castle Rackrent, for the titles did really promise something. Letitia Elizabeth Landon in "Romance and Reality", Chapter 17, 1831: ― "I prefer Miss Austen's; they are the truest pictures of country life, whose little schemes, hopes, scandals, &c.

are detected with a woman's tact, and told with a woman's vivacity." Customers Also Bought Print Length: 355 Pages Language: English Requirements: To view this book, you must have an iOS device with iBooks 1.3.1 or later and iOS 4.3.3 or later, or a Mac with iBooks 1.0 or later and OS X 10.9 or later. Customer Ratings Northanger Abbey (Literature) - TV Tropes Northanger Abbey You need to login to do this. Get Known if you don't have an account Share No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy would have supposed her born to be an heroine. — Opening Line The definitive Gothic parody, Northanger Abbey was Jane Austen 's first completed novel, which she wrote as "Susan"; it developed farther the satiric vein found in her juvenilia, such as Love and Freindship . However, circumstances prevented the novel from being published until after her death in 1817. The fourth of ten children, and eldest daughter, 17-year-old Catherine Morland is a Tomboy grown into a major Gothic Novel fangirl.

She's become so involved in reading that she fancies herself as the heroine of such a work as The Mysteries of Udolpho . One day, she is invited to come along with the childless Allens for a trip to the spring resort of Bath. There, she meets two families, the Thorpes and the Tilneys. The Thorpes' eldest son, the egocentric twit John, tries to woo her. However, Catherine fancies the Tilneys' second son, the gentleman Henry. Henry's father, General Tilney, invites Catherine to the Tilneys' estate, the eponymous Northanger Abbey. There, Catherine's expectations of the world clash with bitter reality. Countering the Adaptation Overdosed tendency of Austen's other works, this has to be the least adapted of all her works. It was twice adapted into Made for TV Movies , once by The BBC in 1986 and once by ITV in 2007. The PBS series Wishbone also used it as the basis of an episode, with the eponymous dog in the role of Henry.

Marvel Illustrated released a Comic-Book Adaptation starting November 2011, script by Nancy Butler, pencils and inks by Janet Lee, and covers by Julian Totino Tedesco. It was also the second book given a modern day Setting Update by The Austen Project, written by Val McDermid . The novel provides examples of: Abusive Parents : General Tilney might be seen as emotionally abusive. His behavior to his children goes from overbearing to terrorizing, and it's clear that Eleanor fears him. Catherine even wonders why his children are always so sedate when he's present. Adults Are Useless : Mrs. Allen fails to do her job when it comes to advising Catherine on etiquette. She fails at it so completely, in fact, that Catherine finally complains that she's being left dangerously to her own devices. Affectionate Parody : Of Gothic Romances. Aluminum Christmas Trees : After the 2007 adaptation was broadcast, a letter to the Radio Times complained that the scriptwriter had added a jarring reference to baseball. That passage came word for word from the book. In fact, the OED records it as the first mention of baseball (by that name) in literature.

Ascended Fangirl : Gothic romance novel fangirl Catherine gets to spend some weeks in a Gothic abbey. The trope is ultimately subverted, when Catherine is proven to be Wrong Genre Savvy . Aristocrats Are Evil : Mrs. Morland is unaware of this, and does not warn her daughter against the peril. Author Filibuster : Austen screeches the plot to a halt early on to rant about how novels are undeservedly thought of as low art. Big Bad : John Thorpe, who is the main source of Catherine's problems and does his best to drive a wedge between her and Henry Tilney - even after he disappears from the novel. Big Fancy House : Northanger Abbey from the title. Catherine is disappointed, as it is too fancy and too comfortable for her taste. She would have preferred something of a haunted house . Black and White Morality : This is Catherine's firm belief at the opening of the novel. In the end, you could argue that the novel encourages to consider things as The Good, the Bad, and the Evil with a lot of A Lighter Shade of Grey and Classical Anti-Hero (Catherine, despite being moral, being this).

Building of Adventure : Catherine expects the abbey to be this, and is rather disappointed when it turns out to be just an elegant building with every modern comfort. Completely Missing the Point : The Paperback Library printing of this book, egregiously so. They mistook it for ◊ Coordinated Clothes : Isabella Thorpe, a reputed beauty, tries to invoke the trope by suggesting her newest, bestest friend Catherine that they should be dressed exactly like each other because men often do take notice of that. She probably wants to invoke the beautiful twins image and attract attention. The innocent Catherine doesn't follow. Isabella's younger and less attractive sisters Maria and Anne try to imitate Isabella's style and they dress like her. According to the narrator, it kind of works, but their rude brother John thinks his younger sisters are laughable and quirky. Conversational Troping : EVERYWHERE! Conspiracy Theorist : Catherine has all these suspicions about the Tilneys and the abbey, all of them based on nothing except conventions of Gothic novels, and jumping to wild conclusions based on tiny discrepancies in what she thinks someone's behaviour should be.

For this, she earns the title of Idiot Hero , because although she tends to be smart if naive in other matters, here she drops down right into deep stupidity. She gets better, though . Dances and Balls : Catherine attends a number of these when she visits Bath, and meets Henry Tilney at one. At first Catherine finds the balls of Bath torturous, because she doesn't know anybody and therefore can't dance or talk to anyone. A master of ceremonies explicitly introduces strangers in town, such as Miss Morland, and is responsible for her introduction to Henry Tilney as a young man of very good character. Diary : Whether Catherine actually keeps one is never mentioned in the novel, but Henry jokingly assumes that all young women do, and goes on to speculate that that's why they're (supposedly) so good at letter-writing. This is an early (perhaps the first) example of the word "journal" used as a verb. Henry speaks several times about "journaling", making the whole conversation sound oddly modern. Played straight in the 2007 movie, in which she is revealed, two seconds after this conversation, to be writing about the events. Deadpan Snarker : The narrator.

Also Henry Tilney, who might be described as spear version of Elizabeth Bennett. Death by Childbirth : Since this was a Dead Horse Trope even in Austen's day, she explicitly points out in the first paragraph that this did not happen to Mrs. Morland. In fact, she went on to raise ten children (Catherine is the fourth) and is still happily alive when the book ends. Deus ex Machina : General Tilney refused to let Catherine wed Henry only because he did not want Henry to marry a poor girl. But when his daughter Eleanor marries a nobleman, it makes him happy enough to consent to his son's marrying whomever he wants (although it also doesn't hurt when he finds out that Catherine's not as poor as he thought). By the way, remember the laundry list? That was said rich man's. Doorstop Baby : No family in Catherine's neighborhood raised a boy found on their doorstep. No wonder she had to leave home to have adventures. Drives Like Crazy : John Thorpe. The scene where he invites Catherine for a ride in his carriage is actually rather terrifying, especially since he refuses to listen to her insistent pleas to stop and let her get out.

It's hard to tell how crazily he's actually driving, since Catherine's sensibilities for such things are probably pretty low, but Henry Tilney is much more sensible. First-Name Basis : Isabella and Catherine reach this very quickly, which is unusual for the time period and is an indication of just how quickly they jumped into their deep friendship. Foregone Conclusion / Medium Awareness / Spoiled by the Format : "The anxiety, which ... must be the portion of Henry and Catherine ... can hardly extend, I fear, to the bosom of my readers, who will see in the tell-tale compression of the pages before them , that we are all hastening together to perfect felicity ." Subverted in editions that include Lady Susan and the unfinished novels; in these, the end of Northanger Abbey occurs when only halfway through the book. Generation Xerox : Notably averted as Catherine has to do a lot of effort to see, between a very realistic painting of their mother on the one hand and Henry and Eleanor on the other, any resemblance. The same, in mind, happens with their father: Henry Tilney is kind, generous, satirical and open, while his father is mean, mercenary, ridiculous for the narrator, and mysterious.

Gold Digger : The Thorpes, who take the Morlands for being very rich and do everything they can to attach to them. (The Morlands, while comfortable in finances, are hardly Darcy and Pemberley .) Have a Gay Old Time : Catherine "remembered that her eldest brother had lately formed an intimacy with a young man of his own college". At the time this would be a strong, deep bond known as a romantic friendship . Friend couples hugged, kissed, just slept together, wrote passionate letters, and pledged their devotion with rings, locks of hair and keepsakes. There were even church ceremonies to solemnize their platonic union. Henry Tilney refers to himself as a "queer man". Mrs. Allen uses the word "fag" to describe a long, tiring voyage. Hypocritical Humor : Isabella Thorpe tends to passionately declare her convictions and then contradict them with her actions just moments later. Near the start, she complains loudly about two men who are supposedly watching her, and then she drags Catherine to chase after them when they leave the room. Identical Grandson : Catherine expects this of Henry's mother's portrait. I Do Not Speak Nonverbal : Mrs. Allen explicitly doesn't.

Averted by Catherine and her brother James. I Gave My Word : Henry proposes marriage to Catherine and then tells her his father forbade it. She's glad, saying that if she learned first of the objection, she would have been honor bound to turn Henry down. But now that she accepted him, she's bound to keep her promise. In the 2007 movie version, this is inverted, as Catherine must, to be romantic in current context, accept to marry Henry even if he becomes poor. So, he tells her first that he broke with his father because he opposed the idea of the marriage and that he'll probably be disinheritednote This is total modern romanticism taking over the rule of the work's universe and lack of research, as this never happens in the book, wouldn't have been possible as Henry is a second son and wouldn't have inherited, and finally doesn't even happen in the movie either, and then asks her. She ignores his father's opposition and accepts gladly . Irritation Is the Sincerest Form of Flattery : Subverted with Isabella and her younger sisters. Isabella is the beauty of the family and she gets imitated, but not irritated.

She might even be pleased that she's a star. Played straight when one girl tries to copy Isabella's look and wears a turban like Isabella does. In Isabella's opinion, Charlotte does not pull it off, as turbans only suit her own fair face. Romantic False Lead : Isabella Thorpe for James Morland. John Thorpe for Catherine. He's not much of one, though; Catherine perceives him as a Jerkass from day one and is never truly interested in him in the first place, only doing things with him because he is James's friend and Isabella's brother. Sacred Hospitality : Played straight by Henry and Eleanor. Subverted by General Tilney. Shoot the Messenger : Inverted. Near the end, Eleanor has to inform Catherine of the General's decision to (more or less) kick her out of the house. Catherine does not shoot the messenger. She actually pities her because she knows it's hard for her. Shout-Out : To numerous pieces of literature from its day. Unable to Support a Wife : Eleanor's lover, though this isn't mentioned until the end.

While You Were in Diapers : Henry teasingly boasts to Catherine that he's surely read a lot more novels than she has. Really though, by the end of the book, Henry is 26 and Catherine is 18. Henry: I have had years the start of you. I had entered on my studies at Oxford, while you were a good little girl working your sampler at home!note A sampler is used for needlework that was commonly taught to all girls Wrong Genre Savvy : The result of Catherine seeing the world of a Regency Romance through Gothic Literature Eyes. Tropes appearing in adaptations: Awkwardly Placed Bathtub : When Catherine is in her bath, she drifts into fantasy and her bathroom becomes a symbolically fertile woodland grove. Then Henry stops by to admire the view , so to speak. Badass Baritone : Henry Tilney and John Thorpe have deep, resonant voices in the ITV version. Since Thorpe is evil, he qualifies for Evil Sounds Deep . Blond Brunette Redhead : Isabella Thorpe, Catherine Morland and Eleanor Tilney in the ITV version.

Chekhov's Gunman : In ITV's TV version, John Thorpe first appears at the assembly where Catherine meets Henry, staring at Catherine as she and Henry dance. He also shows up as a dastardly villain in one of her dreams, pursuing Catherine and Henry on a rainy night and dueling Henry. Dream Sequence : Catherine has several of these in the ITV version. They go in this order: Catherine being given to someone. Catherine and the Allens getting ambushed on the way to Bath and Mr. Allen fights the ruffians with his crutches before getting stabbed in the back. Catherine and Henry fleeing from John Thorpe and Henry dueling Thorpe. Catherine in a bathtub in the woods and Henry stopping by (not included in some versions). Catherine finding James locked in a dungeon and Isabella being tortured on a rack by Captain Tilney. Named by the Adaptation : The young man Eleanor is in love with is named Edward in the ITV version. Obviously Evil : John Thorpe in the ITV version, with his scarred features, deep voice, and generally creepy demeanor before Catherine meets him properly (he's watching her as she dances with Henry).

Parental Marriage Veto : In the ITV version, aside from the General putting his foot down on Catherine and Henry, Henry mentions that the General has refused to sanction Eleanor's marriage to Edward, the young man she loves, because Edward is only a second son. When Catherine asks what would he do if the girl he falls in love with does not come with a fortune attached, Henry replies that "it would be a stern test of my character." Romance-Inducing Smudge : There's a lovely splash of mud on Catherine's face and Henry tries to clean it... Shown during the montage in the Abbey after General has left and the trio of young people enjoy their time together. Romantic Rain : In ITV's TV movie, during Catherine's visit to the Abbey, Catherine and Henry go horse riding to see Henry's parsonage. When they reach it, it's about to start raining. Catherine suggests they race back to the Abbey. It's quite a rainy and muddy ride and at the Abbey, Henry cleans and caresses Catherine's face. Stalker with a Crush : John Thorpe in the ITV version. He first appears (though not named) while staring at Catherine while she and Henry dance. Catherine: Do you know that gentleman?

Henry: Not at all. Catherine: I wonder why he keeps looking at us. Henry: I imagine he likes what he sees. Catherine: What? Do you mean me? Henry: Why not? Sword Fight : One of Catherine's dreams features a duel between Henry Tilney and a dastardly ruffian resembling a creepy young man at the dance the previous evening. The young man is later introduced as John Thorpe. This serves as foreshadowing of the young men's vying for Catherine's affections (more aggressively on Thorpe's part). I leave it to be settled by whomsoever it may concern, whether the tendency of this work be altogether to recommend parental tyranny, or reward filial disobedience. — Closing Line SparkNotes: Northanger Abbey: Context Northanger Abbey Table of Contents Plot Overview Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775, in the village of Steventon in Hampshire. She was the seventh of eight children, and was educated mostly at home. As a young woman, Austen enjoyed dancing, reading, and walks around the Hampshire countryside—all of which activities appear in many of her novels.

She had many friends in Hampshire and was upset when her parents announced their intention to move to Bath in 1801. Austen never warmed to the town. In 1805 Austen's father died, leaving his wife and two daughters to depend on the Austen sons for financial support. After her father's death, Austen, her mother, and her sister spent several years in dire financial straits. In 1809, Austen's brother Edward gave his mother and sisters his old estate in Chawton, Hampshire, where Austen spent the rest of her life. Austen revised three of her novels and wrote three more while at Chawton: Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1815). In 1816, Austen contracted Addison's Disease, a tubercular disease of the kidneys. She died on July 18, 1817. Two of her novels were published after her death: Persuasion and Northanger Abbey (both 1817).

Austen was one of the earliest British female novelists, and became the most well-known in her time. Her novels were (and are) popular for their satirical portrayal of upper class England. Austen's chief weapon was her ironic wit, which she honed to a razor-sharp edge as her career progressed. Her books were published anonymously, since at the time she wrote, women who became public figures often lost respectability. Austen wrote during a time of political turmoil. In the early 1800s, the Napoleonic Wars were making many monarchies nervous, and government censorship of literature sometimes occurred. Austen's life as a writer often took a backseat to the more practical details of her life, at least until the move to Chawton. As a teenager, Austen had written several small satirical pieces, and in the late 1890s she had started her first novel, originally titled Susan, the name of the main character. By the her earliest novel was published in 1817, Austen had published almost all of her other novels. In revising Susan, she renamed the protagonist "Catherine," and ultimately changed the title of the novel Northanger Abbey.

In her later novels, Austen perfects her distinctive style, satirizing the world of the British upper classes, using ironic humor to expose their follies, and creating enjoyable, ostensibly romantic plots. Northanger Abbey, as Austen's earliest novel, is not always as masterfully executed as Austen's later work. Her trademark irony is often relatively obvious, and exaggerated so that it becomes light sarcasm. Northanger Abbey also differs from Austen's other novels in its explicit derivation from other works. Book II contains two elaborate parodies of The Mysteries of Udolpho, a novel by Gothic writer Anne Radcliffe, who was very popular when Austen wrote her novels. Northanger Abbey is generally an ironic parody of both Gothic novels and unsophisticated romances that were popular in this period. It also satirizes the conduct books of the 1700s, books that informed children and young people how to behave in society. In terms of British literary development, Jane Austen occupies no one position. She does not belong to the Neo-Classicist movement, which was the major literary movement of the 1700s.

She is too early to be a Romantic, and her plots are too involved with society and human interaction to fit tidily within the Romantic genre. Austen's emphasis on manners and on the positive and negative aspects of rigid British social norms, is similar to the emphasis of the Victorian authors half a century later. Austen's novels, while part of the progressive development of British fiction, cannot be classified as belonging to any particular literary movement. Northanger Abbey : Jane Austen : 9780099511878 Northanger Abbey Add to basket Add to wishlist Description Catherine Morland is a young girl with a very active imagination. Her naivety and love of sensational novels lead her to approach the fashionable social scene in Bath and her stay at nearby Northanger Abbey with preconceptions that have embarrassing and entertaining consequences. show more Product details 128 x 196 x 18mm | 99.79g Publication date Classics About Jane Austen Jane Austen was born in Steventon rectory on 16th December 1775. Her family later moved to Bath and then to Chawton in Hampshire.

She wrote from a young age and Pride and Prejudice was begun when she was twenty-two years old. It was originally called First Impressions. It was initially rejected by the published she submitted it too and eventually published in 1813 after much revision. All four of her novels published in her lifetime were published anonymously. Jane Austen died on 18th July 1817. Northanger Abbey and Persuasion were published posthumously. show more Review quote "Jane Austen is the pinnacle to which all other authors aspire" -- J.K. Rowling "Somebody reading over my shoulder refuses to believe that I found Northanger Abbey funnier than Catch 22, but I did. So there" -- Jenny Colgan "The most perfect artist among women, the writer whose books are immortal" -- Virginia Woolf "Jane Austen's lightest and most playful novel" Independent "Jane Austen shocks me. Beside her, Joyce seems innocent as grass" -- W.H.

Auden show more Review Text University of Wisconsin Oshkosh University of Wisconsin Oshkosh English 350: Literary Study Tour: Jane Austen Spring Interim, 1998 pertinent to all the novels) Composition and Publication History The first novel that Austen sold as a full novel was "Susan," which, with Persuasion, was the last to appear and came out titled Northanger Abbey, a title given to it by Austen's brother Henry. To the best of our knowledge, it was the third that she wrote in draft form in the 1790s. First, in 1795, she wrote "Elinor and Marianne" (her first novel published, in 1811, as Sense and Sensibility). Then, in 1796-1797, she wrote "First Impressions," (the second novel she saw published; it was rejected from a publisher in 1797 and finally came out in 1813 as Pride and Prejudice).

She wrote Susan in 1797-1798 and sold it in 1803 for 10 pounds to Crosby and Company, who, strangely, did not publish it. She wrote inquiring about it in 1809 and offered to send them another manuscript, if they'd misplaced the original and suggested that otherwise, she would like to pursue publishing it elsewhere; she wrote as "Mrs Ashton Dennis," which allowed her to sign her letter "M.A.D." They told her that, given that they had purchased rights to the work, she could not publish it elsewhere unless she bought back the manuscript from them at the price at which they'd originally purchased it. She apparently set the issue aside to work on writing Mansfield Park, revising Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, and writing Emma. She then bought it back in 1816, after the publication of Emma, and revised it then, to an extent not currently ascertainable, but certainly including the change of the female protagonist's name from Susan to Catherine.

In March 1817, a few months before her death, she wrote to her favorite niece, Fanny Knight, that she was shelving the novel for the time but had another work (presumably Persuasion) ready for publication, which she assumes would come out the following year. Given the relatively quick time between selling and printing a novel (2 months for Pride and Prejudice), her citing a year as possible publication date for Persuasion suggests she still had revisions in mind. Revisions to either were cut short as her illness grew serious; she died on 18 July, 1817, and Northanger Abbey and Persuasion were published together, posthumously, the first works on which Austen's name was affixed as author. If Austen did not in fact revise Northanger Abbey much after repurchasing the manuscript of it in 1816, then the last volumes of her works that came out linked a very early novel, one written by 1803, with the last she wrote, Persuasion, written 1815-1816.

Much is generally made of the difference in years and Austen's probable attitudes in writing these two works - 12 years at least, if she did not particularly revise Northanger Abbey. While it does not strike me that one can say Persuasion must reflect views greatly matured since her other novels - all others were published between 1811-1815, not such a great gap even between her earliest publication and March 1817, when she may have felt done with Persuasion, it might be helpful, as you read Northanger Abbey, to consider whether it "feels" like a much earlier novel than the others we've read and the extent to which it likewise addresses issues the others read, perhaps in similar ways. The strange writing, selling, and publication history of this novel makes one of my questions for your writing journal hard to address, and that is, to examine the extent to which it feels like Austen sets new problems to be solved as a writer as she moves from writing one novel to the next. It is hard to know exactly when and if she revised this novel, and, hence, where it fits in the overall scheme of her writing the six novels we're reading for this course.

You might then in part use your writing journal on this novel to address what differences there might be if we read this as the first novel Austen felt was ready for publication or if we read this as one she revised late in life, setting new problems and challenges for herself based on what she'd seen published before it came out. Literary Background: Genres, Character Types, Themes, and Other Issues: As its title would have suggested to Austen's contemporaries, Northanger Abbey draws on the Gothic novel and its conventions. Abbeys did not exist in the late 18th century in England; Henry VIII had religious houses (which were connected with Catholicism, which he left) destroyed. Abbeys represented a past time in England's history. They also were tied in with Catholicism, and in England, Catholicism, was linked with countries such as France and Italy and viewed as politically tyrannical. The Gothic novel in general, as you can probably infer from reading Northanger Abbey, draws on the horrific.

It is usually set in the past and involves a young girl, trapped in a castle, abbey, or other old, usually partly ruined edifice, tormented by an older man, usually her father or guardian or political leader of the region in which she lives. The Gothic novel thus links the female protagonist's family life with politics, suggesting that tyranny over her is equivalent to tyranny over the region, both carried out by the man who torments her and by extension, is his region's dictator. In fact, Gothic novels concentrating on women's woes are just one type, and there are several ways of dividing different strains of the Gothic; there are also those in which male characters suffer as well; instead of being trapped within a castle which is also the main characters' home, male characters may be kept out of their rightful place in that edifice. In addition to being dividable into that sort of male and female Gothic - the kind concerning male protagonists, on the one hand, and female protagonists, on the other - the Gothic can also be divided by how it uses the supernatural: strange sounds and sights greet the female and/or male protagonist, and frequently, s/he and the reader believe that the place in which s/he is trapped is also haunted.

By the end of some Gothic types - the type popularized by Ann Radcliffe, especially - the apparent supernatural is explained away; ghostly sounds might be produced by people locked in subterranean vaults of the castle, for instance. In some Gothic novels - Walpole's and Matthew Lewis's, for instance - the supernatural is not explained away; characters might really be the devil incarnate in human form, and hauntings may be caused by real restless spirits. Another way of dividing up the Gothic is in terms of who wrote them, and to a certain extent, this overlaps with the above-described two sorts. One can break down Gothic novels into categories of "horror" and "terror" Gothic. "Horror" Gothic works by showing us what is horrible - what shouldn't need to be faced, what humans can't really face. Such novels might be compared to really gruesome scary movies - slasher movies, with lots of gore. "Terror" Gothic, on the other hand, works via suspense. Rather than seeing someone get disemboweled, we're invited to share the main character's suspense as that character thinks, awaits, and tries to avoid whatever he or she imagines might occur.

Frequently, "horror" Gothic is seen to be written most particularly by men; it frequently leaves the supernatural in place, and we see people behaving really badly, raping and killing family members and others, for instance. We then see them really "horribly" punished by a demon incarnate who has tempted them to do the "horrible" things they've done. If one thinks about the kind of strictures limiting women's writing in the era, one might realize why men, more than women, ostensibly wrote this kind of novel. Women might prove themselves unfeminine if capable of depicting anything beyond the humanly acceptable and would need to limit the fright on which they draw to suspense. But dividing works up as by male or female authors thus does not really work when one gets to Gothic works published in the eighteenth century or beyond. It is helpful, nonetheless, to know something about these categories. The Gothic overlaps, in all its forms, with sensibility, in part because it concerns a suffering protagonist. To be involved at all with the work, one must be able to sympathize with that protagonist, and sympathizing with their sufferings puts us in the role of developing and drawing on our own sensibility.

Frequently such novels make clear who good characters are by showing them sympathizing with the sufferings of others, and in this way, they clearly overlap with sentimental* novels (*remember, "sentimental" is the adjective for sensibility). Keeping this in mind, and reminding yourself of everything behind the movement of sensibility and what was considered its drawbacks will help you immensely in understanding Northanger Abbey; to that end, review the information sheets I have provided for you on Sense and Sensibility; think about ways sensibility gets mocked in that novel, and ways the same or similar mocking, parody, or harsher criticism occurs in Northanger Abbey. Keeping in mind the kinds of criticisms made about the effect of novel-reading on women will be especially useful as you work your way through this novel. Understanding the complex way this novel draws on the Gothic is easiest if one has actually read a Gothic novel, which we do not have time to do during this course. The Broadview edition of Northanger Abbey, however, provides excerpts from two Ann Radcliffe novels to which Catherine and Isabella refer and to which Catherine reacts at the Abbey itself. Refer to the appendices for these passages; read them to make passages of the novel itself clear.

Another tool to help you understand the novel is the introduction. As usual, you'll do best to read it after you finish reading the novel; it will then help you understand various elements of the novel and, perhaps, various concerns you have about it. Nonetheless, it might help you at the outset to keep in mind one thing it points out: the novel was originally titled "Susan," and naming it after the central character gives a different idea about what holds the novel together than does naming it after the estate to which Catherine travels only late in the novel. The other appendices are also quite useful and we will discuss what we learn there too; after reading the novel and answering questions that deal particularly with it (remember: answer not only the questions listed here but those pertaining to all the novels), read the appendices containing early reviews of Northanger Abbey and answer questions about them. 1 This novel is pretty evidently about Catherine's learning. What are her lessons? Who else has learning to do? Where do we see it happening? Who else reads reality via books? How does this novel handle these issues in ways similar to ways they're handled in Sense and Sensibility? What are the differences? Do you think Austen comes to the same conclusions in each case?

Or are there differences? 2 What's the difference between innocence and naivete here? Innocence and ignorance? 3 What is happening on pp135-136? 4 John Thorpe can be known to some extent through his rudeness to his sisters and mothers when he first encounters them in Bath. Look, then, at Henry Tilney's treatment of his sister when he, she, and Catherine go on a walk. Is he as rude as Thorpe? If so, why do we like him better? What fits him better to be the male protagonist, the man presented as goal and reward for the female protagonist, Catherine? 5 If novels give us ways of interpreting and misinterpreting "life," what's the role of the picturesque? What does the novel suggest about ways of interpreting others, ourselves, what happens to us that we import from elsewhere? If we don't take others' ways of interpreting ourselves and others, how are we to comprehend anything? What mode of understanding things does Catherine have before she learns what she does by the end of the novel? Henry frequently remarks on how she makes decisions or interprets others; what's the source, do you think, of the model she already has? Is it adequate?

To what extent is it better than the models she encounters and then perhaps learns? 6 Think about what I've already told you gets said about Gothic novels and novels of sensibility and look at that passage at the end of chapter 5, on novels. What's the main concern there? Does it respond to the period's concerns about novels? Or does it raise different issues? How does the novel as a whole pick up on and respond to the period's complaints about novels' effects? Now read the reviews in Appendix D. Summarize them. Identify what each one considers makes a novel good, and what makes a novel bad. What gets valued in Northanger Abbey and Austen's novels in general? To what extent are these qualities the same ones we'd use to judge a book? To what extent are they the ones that Austen herself would employ for judging a book? Again, look at her arguments at the end of chapter 5, and try to draw conclusions as well by what Northanger Abbey as a whole values or critiques in reading.

While we will discuss these reviews and attitudes about women's publishing in general (think about Austen's own family's views on women's publishing), it might be useful to think up some questions on who wrote, what they wrote, who read, what they read, what was popular and why it might have been popular; we can address these questions when we're given a talk at the British Library; that talk will be provided with a specialist on circulating libraries who might not be able to address attitudes about publishing but who certainly can tell us what was published, what sold well, and what was borrowed from libraries - perhaps too who was borrowing these works. Very Short List of Reading on the Gothic, especially as pertains to Austen: Ellis, Kate Ferguson. The Contested Castle: Gothic Novels and the Subversion of Domestic Ideology. Urbana: U of Illinois P, 1989. Looser, Devoney, ed. Jane Austen and Discourses of Feminism. New York: St. Martins, 1995. Various essays focus on Northanger Abbey and the Gothic. Punter, David. The Literature of Terror. White Plains, NY: Longman, 1980.

2nd ed, vol. 1: 1996. Any works listed in the bibliography to Northanger Abbey

Question: Who wrote the 1817 novel ‘Northanger Abbey’?
Answer: Jane austen