Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen is a novel that throws ordinary people into an unusual story. Unlike many romance novels, it is a story of a “plain Jane,” a girl of no particular beauty or talent, but altogether pleasing nonetheless. Northanger Abbey demonstrates Austen’s understanding of literature and her abilities as a writer to create believable characters and expose personalities for what they are.
Northanger Abbey A “Plain Jane” Story
Originally published posthumously in 1818, Northanger Abbey is a look at the life of a young woman, Catherine Morland, who grew up in an ordinary home with plenty of brothers and sisters. Catherine is the epitome of average. She is not particularly talented, nor particularly interested in learning skills other than the ones she already has. Upon an invitation to join family friends, Mr and Mrs Allen, in Bath, Catherine is excited to go and experience something new, unknowing of what awaits her there, and of the discoveries she may make in Northanger Abbey.
During her time in Bath, Catherine meets an array of characters, including Miss Isabella Thorpe and Mr Henry Tilney, who show her a side of life that is new to Catherine. Northanger Abbey is a look at an otherwise ordinary life disrupted by the extraordinary.
The Romantic Era and Jane Austen Novels
From the opening pages, Austen declares Catherine to be an unlikely heroine for a story and adds an intelligent response to a general consensus on the nature of novels as somehow being a lesser form a literature. And thus Northanger Abbey makes a statement on this idea that novels, in Jane Austen’s time, were a sensational experience for women and not true literature, such as poetry. Austen uses satire to jest at Gothic novels, in creating characters who misunderstand fiction altogether. But Catherine herself finds her imagination and amusement in novels, and this attachment helps to make her a sensible woman.
Jane Austen is a writer who could turn real personalities into fictional characters in such a way as to expose them for what they are, developing this plethora of characters through conversation. Austen’s writing is not part of what is considered the Romantic Era, nor does she write Gothic novels, but her writing includes some Romantic and Gothic story elements, including the use of the sublime in her settings, in her depiction of Northanger Abbey. Northanger Abbey could also be considered a coming of age story, as Catherine learns through her interactions with her new friends to become an ordinary heroine to her own story.
Characteristic of Jane Austen novels, Northanger Abbey is a great read for a literary mind who enjoys the language of Romantic or Victorian novels, and it is a story that holds value even today.
Michelle Wright - Michelle is an avid reader and writer, with a focus on book, film and music reviews, gluten free recipes, and fiction writing "how-tos."
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