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| From the BBC adaptation of Northanger Abbey |
Answer TWO of the following…
1. Examine Henry’s speech which follows his discovery of Catherine’s snooping: “If I understand you rightly, you had formed a surmise of such horror as I have hardly words to—Dear Miss Morland, consider the dreadful nature of the suspicions you have entertained. What have you been judging us from?” How do you read this passage? Is it shocking her into an awareness of her overworked sensibility and imagination? Or does this speech have ironic implications that only the narrator (and reader) can appreciate? Does English society “prepare us for such atrocities”?
2. Though this is a satire, to an extent, of a gothic novel, how is the reality of Northanger Abbey true to the ideas and characters of a gothic novel? What horrors really do lurk within Northanger Abbey, and why isn’t Catherine initially able to see them? In other words, why might we call this a ‘realistic’ Gothic novel?
3. In the last chapters, we get an interesting view of life in the Morland home, particularly the interaction between Catherine and her mother. How does Austen depict this domestic environment? Do you feel Austen’s portrait is sentimental or satirical? In other words, does she want us to relate to Catherine’s world, or is it as small and foolish as Bath was?
4. In the introduction to the Penguin edition of Northanger Abbey, the 19th century scholar Marilyn Butler writes, “Austen’s compact with her readers is never puritanical. Traditional stories end with satisfied desire; surprisingly often this encompasses the desire for goods. Happiness comes in Northanger Abbey as a sitting-room with a window down to the floor, and a view of apple trees.” Is Butler suggesting that marital bliss is still tied to class and possession (like Crusoe)? Despite Catherine’s sensibility, does Austen ultimately reward her heroine with a sensible match—a man of property and comfort? Do we think she will continue to thrive intellectually in this setting—or was that not the point of Catherine’s education?
Elyse Marquardt
ReplyDeleteQuestion 1: I have always read this passage as the climax of the novel, in a way. It is when Catherine has reached her height of imaginative stupidity, and Henry is shocked and sorrowfully reprimands her for it. Catherine has worked up to this moment, and it is definitely time for her overactive mind to be brought back down to earth. It is my favorite part of the book; for while we feel sorry for our heroine, we can also rejoice because we know that this was for her good and she will certainly grow from it. It makes her better able to appreciate Henry and be more on his level.
Question 2: This is a very realistic novel in some ways. Yes, it makes fun of Gothic novels by having the heroine live a bit too much inside her own, overly creative head. But horrors do lurk inside the Abbey, such as the tyrannical General Tilney and the stifling power he holds over his children. Catherine isn't initially able to see them because she is looking for ghosts and skeletons "in the flesh"; but what she finally comes to realize is that this family, just like any other, has real skeletons in the closet. They don't live in a haunted house with a mad wife in the attic, but they do live in a sorrowful house that is haunted by memories of deeds done wrong. In actuality, they are just the typical family, and that is very realistic.
Yes, great responses; the novel IS a Gothic novel but a realistic one, where the monsters are not metaphors but real things--fathers out for money, friends out for money, everyone lying and stealing. The irony is that while Catherine goes too far in her imaginations, she is essentially correct: the General has killed his wife, in a sense, and then tried to destroy her memory. He is now haunting his children in a particularly cruel way. I think Henry is too keen to scold her here, when he should realize--as he later does--that she merely misinterpreted what her sensibilities picked up on. Indeed, without her Gothic education, she would be little more than Isabella, and Henry would have never noticed her.
DeleteAnna Talkington
ReplyDelete2. Catherine sees gothic elements in Northanger Abbey, but misreads them. She senses that General Tinley is evil, but she foolishly confuses that for the sort of evils found in the gothic novels. She thinks him a murderous monster like in a gothic novel, but really he is simply evil because of his pride. He does sometime perhaps worse than being a vampire, which is he violates being a gentleman by turning Catherine out in the way he did.
3. The Morland’s seem kind, but surface-y. They don’t seem to be a very affectionate family. They make almost no any inquiry into the reason Catherine was turned out, and they soon went on as nothing had happened. This makes me wonder if this environment is the reason why Catherine sometimes seems to miss social cues.
Do you notice how awful parents come out in this novel, or even surrogate parents? Mrs. Allen is a dolt, the General is a vampire, the Morlands are pleasant but without true parental care, and Mrs. Thorpe lets her children run wild. This goes back to the idea of education in this novel and in others by Austen: women have no role models and no one undertakes their education. So no wonder they become Isabellas, and books alone can make them into Catherines.
Delete- Rocky Moore
ReplyDelete3. I thought it was interesting on page 165 when Catherine's mother is talking to her about her stay in bath and how she needs to now focus on work rather than play. It seemed more condescending than anything else and even slightly jealous in a way? Her mother says to her, "My dear Catherine, I am afraid you are growing quite a fine lady. I do not know when poor Richard's cravats would be done, if he had no friend but you. Your head runs too much upon Bath; but there is a time for every thing-- a time for balls and plays, and a time for work. You have had a long run of amusement, and now you must try and be useful" (165). At the same time I do understand why the mother is looking out for her daughter, I mean she is still very young and her mother doesn't want her getting ahead of herself and making poor decisions. Though that changes when she meets Henry Tilney on the next page.
4. I think the match between the two could not have been better. Coming from opposite backgrounds can turn out to be more successful than those coming from the same one. That can get boring and I think Austen brings these two together on purpose. I do think Austen is rewarding the heroine with a man with such prestige but I also think Austen is doing this for the audience as well. At least I can speak for me that I wanted this from all along and Austen does a great job in enticing me for that ending by the multiple encounters between Catherine and Henry. I think Catherine will definitely thrive intellectually with Henry and that Henry is really good for her. Its not as if he looks down upon her or anything like that, I really think he finds her interesting even when she does dumb things like convince herself that she's living in a horror novel at the Abbey.
Great responses...we are supposed to be surprised by her mother's lack of emotion, especially considering her ordeal at Northanger. I think this scene is an interlude between her time there and the happy conclusion, showing how dismal and unrewarding Catherine's life might have become--and many young women's life DID become. She is rescued at the last minute, but after all, this is only a novel!
DeleteQuestion 2. It might be making fun of gothic novels, but at it's heart that is exactly what Northanger Abbey is. It might not be the mythical monsters we typically associate with the genre, but there are monsters and bad guys here all right. Henry's father can only be described as a villain. He is awful to his children and to Catherine. There are also the horrors of the world. She is looking for mysteries and horror, but the actual horror is the "real" world and the ideas of class and station and everything that is expected of her. So while this is considered to be satirical, it is actually pretty spot on, just more realistic.
ReplyDeleteQuestion 3. Can I say that I hate Catherine's mother? I mean, seriously, she doesn't seem to care about her daughter at all. Her daughter, whom she left in the care of a family, comes home ALONE and clearly upset, and her parents don't even seem to care at all. They seem to think that it is a perfectly normal thing and that Catherine is either exaggerating it, or will get over it in time. What kind of parent would do something like that? They also don't seem to care at all that the same person who threw her out of his house (okay, technically his father did it, but still!) comes and proposes. I know for fact my parents, any normal parents, would not be okay with that. They seem perfectly content to agree to the marriage, they even seem shocked that someone like Henry could want their daughter. Overall, it is definitely satirical. Austen was mocking the idea that the family unit is perfect and picturesque by showing us a less than flattering view.
Great responses...yes,. parents don't come in for a lot of praise in this novel, nor in many of Austen's novels (especially mothers--they are either bitches or dead--and Austen had a very difficult relationship with her own mother). Clearly, her mother isn't a woman of deep sensibility or emotion, and while she comforts her daughter and doesn't judge her, she also doesn't sympathize with her, either. And then you have the General, who is truly a vampire, sucking the life blood of his wife and children and any heiress who gets in his path. He is very much like the villain of the first Gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto, Manfred, who tries to marry a rich girl to his son, and when the son dies, decides to woo her himself (even though he's currently married!).
DeleteKelsey Tiger
ReplyDelete1. I think Henry finally called her out on her imagination. She has continuously made foolish comments and I think Henry finally became frustrated enough that he couldn't control his shock and said something to her. It’s an interesting scene to say the least and I feel like finally he lets her know that her foolish thoughts became too much to handle at this point and I don’t think he appreciated them at this point.
3. The Morland home is kind of awkward. Neither parent seemed too concerned about her adventures in Bath or necessarily what happened. I feel like it would have been a red flag that she came home alone after going to Bath with the Allen’s. They didn't seem interested in her well-being or if she was ok. The situation just seems a little strange.
Yes, she has gone too far in his mind, though he can hardly blame her for doing so--he all but told her to do it! Even though he was joking, he knows how much she hangs on his words, and her general inability to distinguish fantasy from reality. Of course, he gets pretty defensive, too, invoking England's moral standard, which I hardly think Austen would agree with.
ReplyDelete2. General Tilney is not what he seems to be. The entire time his kindness has flowed from the idea of selfish gain for his family legacy. He thinks Catherine is wildly wealthy, and possible heir to even more fortune. Also Isabella was not who Catherine initially thought she was. She turns out to be a the cause of a lot of grief for Catherine and her family, along with her relationship with the Tilneys.
ReplyDelete3. It seemed satirical. The parents were insensitive and ignorant to the true source of Catherine’s pain. Gladly gave her away in marriage to a man who they hardly knew along with the remarks she’ll make a fine house wife. I got the idea that they were worried she’d live at home for the rest of her life and they’d be stuck taking care of her until the grave! At the same time Austen portrayed the setting in a very relatable way. Even in the 21st century I think many young women can relate to this disconnect with home after experiencing a semester spent away at college.