For Monday, be sure to read the landmark essay (a chapter from their book The Madwoman in the Attic) by Gilbert and Gubar, "Shut Up in Prose: Gender and Genre in Jane Austen's Juvenelia." After reading it, respond to the following question to launch our discussion on Monday:
What does it mean for a female character to be "shut up in prose" as they argue Catherine becomes in the novel? In what ways do the conventions of writing, and the narratives of novel-writing themselves, allow others (esp. men) to "trap" Catherine? Related to this, how does this article argue that Henry Tilney, for all his good qualities, is somewhat complicit in Catherine's entrapment? How do the authors want us to understand what it meant to be a woman living in the 'narratives' of her culture in the 1790's?
To be “shut up in prose” is for a character to be constrained by the typical conventions and stereotypes of society. Catherine is shut up by her inability to be financial stable as a single woman, by her lack of a proper education, by her naivety, and by Isabella and John’s influence. Tilney, in a way, traps her with stereotypes of journaling and admiring flowers. I think the authors’ main argument is that women, in these narratives, were to fit a certain mold and it was very difficult to try to break free of the mold because of social conventions.
ReplyDeleteAshley Bean
ReplyDeleteCatherine starts out the novel being extremely ignorant of the typical rules of society. Throughout the book, she becomes more trapped by these rules, as everyone is slowly trying to change her in some way. To be "shut up in prose" in this case is Catherine taught society norms that force her to fit into the "woman" category. Though everyone likes Catherine for her naive charm, they all attempt to remedy it. Isabella tries to influence her with her coquette ways, Thorpe just wants her to be his perfect little woman, and even Tilney tries to educate her in the finer ways of society. The article lays out that being even just being a woman throws you into a stereotype at this time. Women are useless without a husband, and to get a husband they usually need a bit of money. It is an endless cycle of a game that everyone plays to get more money and land, and women are the pawns.
In this book and through this essay we see that in Austen’s time that women were supposed to behave a certain way, and there was a certain stereotype that went along with being a respectable woman. Catherine was supposed to go to Bath and find a husband that fit in a specific category and she was supposed to read certain types of books and she was supposed to like art and drawing… the list goes on and on. In the very beginning of the book Austen says "No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy, would have supposed her born to be an heroine." There was a certain way that she was supposed to turn out based on her parents and where she came from. This changes when she goes to Bath and Thorpe starts the rumor that she is rich. Now people expect her to behave like a “rich woman”. The entire book is filled with moments where a specific type of person is supposed to act a certain way.
ReplyDeleteAusten offers a glimpse into her perspective of a woman's role during the late 18th century. While satirical in nature, the story of Catherine is one that represents all women to one degree or the next. To be Shut Up in Prose is to be defined by the narrative stereotype set in place hindering the character from becoming anything other than what would be considered typical. Women at the time are taught to fit a mold of what a proper English, Christian woman should be. Catherine, through naïve ways, shows little regard for her role should be because she unaware she has a role to begin with. She looks at the world around as if its a novel yet does not realize she herself is in a sort of novel being given a character role by her peers subliminally. She is "trapped" by these things because anytime she attempts to break out into her own sense of self, she is swiftly reminded of what her role is by those around her.
ReplyDeleteDevin Martinez
Shelby Pletcher
ReplyDeleteI love the way in which Austen chose to write her protagonist in Northanger Abbey. Instead of making her a classic cautionary character or one that got it all right, instead she's completely ignorant and inbetween. Catherine is not a typical young girl but she is not your typical woman either. She is unique all her own and we quickly love her, despite all of her little quirks, because of this. It's this love that most certainly must have led many audience members of Austen's time to asking themselves why we would want to change this precocious, bright-eyed, independant girl. All good literature, at least in my opinion, softly asks the hardest of questions in between every line. Northanger Abbey is seemingly no different. In Austen's day in age, women were expected to live for men and wealth, not for wisdom or the simple pleasures of life such as an innocent gothic novel. Which is why I think it's so interesting that Austen chose to showcase Catherine in the way she did. It allows us to not just connect with her, or disconnect for some, but it allows us to grow with her as she figures out what it means to be a lady who loves literature and perhaps, even, a boy.
Kelsey Tiger
ReplyDeleteI think it means that Catherine became subjected to the limitations of the society for women. She fell into that role of stereotypes. She is surrounded by a society and friends that “trap” her into becoming like them. She is unable to venture out because her surroundings always seem to wrangle her back in. Bath was supposed to be her chance to find a husband and yet she doesn’t. Women seem to be limited and trapped in the narratives instead of being able to venture out and totally figure out who they are. They tend to become “shut up in prose.”
Catherine is subjected to various stereo typical women who seem to be shut up in prose; from Mrs. Allen who constantly raves about fashion, to Isabella who constantly raves about herself and men. Even her relationship with the wonderful Henry has hints of negativity. Often it seems Henry just sees Catherine shut up in prose as the perfect ignorant subject with an empty head they he can fill and mold as he chooses (I personally don't see it that way but understand the validity of that criticism). Catherine's mother strongly wants her to fit nicely into the mold predetermined for women of that time. She rejoice at the marriage because she sees this as an end to that means.
ReplyDeleteElyse Marquardt
ReplyDeleteIn one way, Austen tries exceedingly hard to keep Catherine from becoming "shut up in prose"; she is born to unimpressive parents and receives an unimpressive education, both of which cut back on her chances of fitting the stereotype of a heroine in a typical Gothic novel in Austen's time. We are further able to see her lack of "shut up in prose"-ness because she is surrounded by characters who EXACTLY fit the typical mold for a person in a Gothic novel, such as Isabella and John Thorpe and Catherine's chaperone, Mrs. Allen. However, Catherine is eventually forced to slightly melt into her predestined mold by the end, because she winds up marrying a rich man whom she also just so happens to love (typical of a Gothic heroine). Austen might have felt like she needed to do this so that her audiences of the time would not be totally disappointed by what they had assumed would be a normal Gothic novel. But Catherine mostly is delightful because of her ignorance to the behavior expected of her.