NORTHANGER ABBEY &
THE GOTHIC
The Gothic
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Old building in antique style/ gothic windows
Innocent heroine
Villain
Hero whose identity/integrity is doubted
Ruins
Ghost/ monk-like figure
Mystery
The Gothic
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Storm
Strange noises
Sliding panel
Dark atmosphere
Missing document
Servant, preferably with a secret
Staircase, preferably winding
Romance
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Story of adventure and love
16th & 17th centuries = representation of life a
cynical one. Witty and critical with an ornate
classical & rhetorical style
2nd ½ 18thC – rejection of this and looking for
a more natural approach
How does she do it?
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Ridicules romantic fiction by offering models of what
is expected of a heroine, and denying Catherine
these qualities
Wit – paradox, antithesis, epigram & pun
Irony – dramatic, verbal & socratic
Satire
Dialogue
Voice & viewpoint
Mood
Sentence construction
Northanger Abbey
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“Jane Austen exhibits the contrast between
the world as it is and the world as imagined
by the romancers whom she wishes to
ridicule. She expresses it by the contrast
between a normal, healthy-natured girl and
the romantic heroines of fiction and by
showing the girl slightly affected with
romantic notions”
Gothic Elements in Northanger Abbey
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The Gothic elements occur mostly in the
second half of the novel, when Catherine
goes to Northanger – eg, Henry’s storytelling
and Catherine’s first night at the Abbey (look
at the language that is used)
Austen gently mocks this as the danger is not
real, only perceived by Catherine who wants
the situation to be horrifying.
Setting
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Catherine imagines the abbey as an old building full
of ancient legends “Its long damp passage, its
narrow cells and ruined chapel, were to be within
her daily reach, and she could not subdue the hope
of some traditional legends, some awful memorials
of an injured, ill-fated nun”
We later see that her imaginings make the abbey
more mysterious than it really is. Her expectations
(in part supported by Henry’s story), clash with what
she sees and this disappoints her. She wants to
experience something similar to what her heroines
do, but Northanger is a common building.
Catherine’s Imagination
The mysterious cabinet and manuscripts – look at
the language Austen uses (chapter 21-22)
 Catherine imagines that General Tilney as firstly,
killed his wife, then she imagines that he is keeping
her prisoner in the Abbey.
“ the probability that Mrs Tilney yet lived, shut up for
causes unknown and receivint from the pitiliess
hands of her husband a nightly supply of coarse
food, was the conclusion that necessarily followed”
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Catherine’s Imagination
When she investigates Mrs Tilney’s room,
she is caught and scolded by Henry:
“ Dearest Miss Morland, what ideas have you
been admitting?”
It is then that Catherine is able to recognise the
influence of reading novels like The Mysteries
of Udolpho
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Irony
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Dramatic irony = situation is apparent to the reader,
but not to the character (laundry list)
Verbal irony = words used in an opposite manner to
their literal meaning (‘the delicacy, discretion,
originality of thought, and literary taste which
marked the reasonableness of that attachment’).
Use of negatives: ‘without’ ‘never’ ‘instead of’
Socratic irony = adopts a character’s viewpoint to
ridicule them – shows us her characters foibles
(dialogue of Isabella, Thorpe & Mrs Allen reported
second hand as so tedious)
Dialogue
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Direct speech
Indirect speech
Interior dialogue
Satire
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Ridiculing of faults of human nature - Result
of irony
Primary focus here is Gothic and romance
literature – the misuse of it
Sharpest satire is at the expense of the
Thorpes
Voice and Viewpoint
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Omniscient
Interior dialogue – Catherine’s point of view
Austen’s own voice
Sentence Construction
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Length & construction is important
Action & events = short sentences
Elaborate construction of the period, with
many dependent and linked clauses
Purpose?
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Reading novels causes foolish imagination in
the reader and leads to all sorts of dangers
Reading novels is alright as long as the
reader doesn’t mistake them for real life
Its not necessary to find danger in novels,
there’s plenty in real life
Purpose?
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Is she ridiculing society in Bath and
elsewhere
Is she preaching about the dangers of
society?
Is she having fun with her readers to
entertain them?
Purpose?
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It is important to note that Austen parodies
the Gothic novels of her time by using some
of their techniques.
In doing this she contrasts vivid imagination
and common reality.
Parody is based on Catherine’s mistakes –
she suspects her host of a horrible act which
is created in her own fantasy.
Romanticism ?
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How does her purpose relate to the concerns
of the module?
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Valuing the imagination, the individual & idealism
Search for meaning through relationship with the
natural world & wider social/political contexts
Examine or affirm the power of the imagination to
inform, illuminate and transform human
experience
Experimentation with ideas & forms may reflect or
challenge ways of thinking