Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
This is a Writer’s Novel Perhaps More Than Any of Her Other Works
Jul 9, 2009
Though this novel was sold for publication in 1803, it had not been published by 1816 and Jane Austen bought it back for what she paid – ten pounds. She never saw it published, as it finally came out in its present form, more or less, in 1818.
With so much effort put into it, Jane Austen must have thought this novel quite important. And so it is, and is definitely worth examining on multiple levels, both for literary scholars in general and certainly for “Jane-ites.”
The value of a good novel is laid out with wit, style, and a definite but dry sense of humour.
The Nature of a Heroine
Catherine Morland is Jane Austen’s chosen heroine in Northanger Abbey and Jane Austen makes this evident by injecting herself into the story numerous times, unlike she did, for example, with Pride and Prejudice and her own personal favourite heroine, Elizabeth Bennet.
- Jane Austen tells readers that Catherine Morland grew up in a neighbourhood with no eligible young squires, baronets, or gentlemen. So therefore, she says, the plot must dictate that the heroine is thrown into the path of eligible men: “But when a young lady is to be a heroine, the perverseness of forty surrounding families cannot prevent her. Something must and will happen to throw a hero in her way.”
- Jane Austen suddenly injects herself into Northanger Abbey, and the results are humorous: “Alas! if the heroine of one novel be not patronized [sic] by the heroine of another, from whom can she expect protection and regard? I cannot approve of it.”
- Another element of a heroine is presented later in the novel by Catherine Morland being forced to sit down through dances for want of a partner, like another famous heroine, Elizabeth Bennet: To be disgraced in the eye of the world, to wear the appearance of infamy while her heart is all purity, her actions all innocence, and the misconduct of another the true source of her debasement, is one of those circumstances which peculiarly belong to the heroine’s life…”
- And of course, heroines must suffer: “And now I may dismiss my heroine to the sleepless couch which is the true heroine’s portion; to a pillow strewed with thorns and wet with tears.”
The Need for Satire
Jane Austen’s wit was sharp, and indeed, at times, wicked. Satire is an ever-present element in Northanger Abbey, and it is one reason the novel is so fun to read.
- Catherine Morland’s journey to Bath, England, with her friends Mr. and Mrs. Allen is thus described: “Nothing more alarming occurred than a fear, on Mrs. Allen’s side, of having once left her clogs behind her at an inn, and that fortunately proved to be groundless.”
- The unfitness of Catherine Morland as a “heroine” is a theme that runs throughout the novel, starting with the first line: “No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy would have supposed her born to be an heroine.” Jane Austen continues the gentle satire of her own character by describing her lack of glibness in communication, something that none of her other heroines lacked: “…she was not experienced enough in the finesse of love, or the duties of friendship, to know when delicate raillery was properly called for, or when a confidence should be forced.”
- The satire is not held to Catherine Morland alone, but also directed at other characters. Mrs. Allen, though affable, is painted as somewhat of a clownish character, similar to Mrs. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice: “…as she never talked a great deal, so she could never be entirely silent…”
- Jane Austen even uses this novel to introduce her own gripes with modern language usage: “…I cannot speak well enough to be unintelligible.” “Bravo! an excellent satire on modern language.”
The Growth of the Heroine
Throughout Northanger Abbey, Catherine Morland grows in knowledge of human nature and the world. She learns the machinations by which people manipulate others and their own situations to their best advantage. Starting totally naïve of such things, Catherine Morland is a quick student.
- When Catherine Morland was assailed with chatter by a young man set on courting her, she could not follow his conversation: “Catherine listened with astonishment. She knew not how to reconcile two such very different accounts of the same thing; for she had not been brought up to understand the propensities of a rattle…”
- She was told certain people were admirable, but she soon began making her own opinions, certainly something to be admired in a heroine: “…the extreme weariness of his company which crept over her before they had been out an hour…induced in her some small degree to resist such high authority, and to distrust his powers of giving universal pleasure.”
- She is urged by “friends” to put off a previous engagement to go with them on a poorly planned outing to which she had no desire to attend: “The three others still continued together, talking in a most uncomfortable manner to poor Catherine…At one moment, she was softened, at another irritated, always distressed, but always steady.” This heroine did not turn on people as other characters in the novel did, playing others as if they were mere harp strings.
Jane Austen, by adding personal addresses to readers in Northanger Abbey, makes this novel much more of a writer’s handbook about her thoughts and indeed, the thoughts of her day on literature, plot, story, and other elements, such as biting satire, humour, exaggeration, and ironic wit.
Though today’s editors might shudder at her technique, the very personality of Northanger Abbey is produced by Jane Austen’s injection of herself into the plot and her descriptions of a proper heroine.
Who could not but cheer for Catherine Morland as she grows into her role?
Source: Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen, Penguin Popular Classics, 1994.
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