In the late 1700s and early 1800s, gothic romances were the rage. Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey, written before her masterpieces Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, is a kind of humorous, sweet little satire of that genre that tells the story of Catherine Morland, a young, innocent tomboyish country girl with a passion for novels, particularly gothic romances. One day, out of the blue it seems, wealthy family friends the Allens pluck her out of her life of obscurity and plunge her into the more glamorous life of balls and social gatherings in Bath. There she meets the handsome and kind Henry Tilney at (what else?) a ball, as well as the naughty, gold-digging Isabella Thorpe and her rough-mannered dandy of a brother John.
Catherine’s adventure really begins when the Tilneys – Henry, his sweet and demure sister Eleanor and their father – decide to leave Bath for the mysterious Northanger Abbey. Dark, gloomy and remote, it’s the perfect setting for a gothic romance reader like Catherine. Believing that there are dangerous secrets at Northanger Abbey, Catherine lets her imagination run wild and allows her curiosity surrounding the death of Henry’s mother go a tad too far. Later on, a simple misunderstanding prompts Henry’s father to send Catherine on the 75-mile journey home alone (alone!) and threatens her chances at happiness with Henry. I’m not going to completely spoil this one for you; but like all Austen stories, this one has a happy ending. Oh, come now. Don’t be too surprised.
I was intrigued to find out that Northanger Abbey was actually written before Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice and that it was published posthumously. Although it’s filled with Austen’s special wit, charm and clever observations of class differences, I sometimes had the feeling that Austen – with her references to gothic works such as The Mysteries of Udolpho and The Italian by Ann Radcliffe - wasn’t entirely sure whether this story should be an all-out parody of gothic romances, or the coming-of-age story of a naive, imaginative girl who learns the difference between reality and fantasy. Nevertheless, it is a very Austen novel, and I’m glad I read it. Now I can also say I have read all of Austen’s completed works. Yay.
This is my first post and first completed task for the challenge Everything Austen II, a literary event created by Stephanie’s Written Word. All of my posts for this challenge are under the category Everything Austen II.
Next: Some Austen-inspired cookies. Oh. Yes. Yes!
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I’ve always wanted to read The Mysteries of Udolpho to understand exactly what she’s referencing. Northanger is such a lighthearted book compared to some of her others, it’s interesting to see how her work changed as she grew older. Great review!