'Northanger Abbey'

'Northanger Abbey' by Jane Austen

Reviewed by Joe Porter

'Northanger Abbey' was the first novel completed by Jane Austen. It was written in 1798 or 1799. It was revised in 1803 and (possibly) in 1816. It was published posthumously in late December 1817, although 1818 appeared on the title page.

The novel is a burlesque on Ann Radcliffe's 'The Mysteries of Udolpho' (1794). Mrs Radcliffe's novel is often referred to in 'Northanger Abbey', indeed some of the characters, Isabella Thorpe, Catherine Morland and Henry Tilney have read or are reading it. The Mysteries of Udolpho belongs to the genre known as the Gothic novel. In 'Northanger Abbey' Jane Austen makes fun of the prevailing fashion for Gothic novels. A background knowledge of the Gothic novel particulary 'The Mysteries of Udolpho' is essential when reading 'Northanger Abbey'. Briefly, 'The Mysteries of Udolpho' is about a young lady named Emily St. Aubert. The novel is set in 1584. After the death of her mother, Emily accompanies her father on a trip to Switzerland. On the journey, Emily meets and falls in love with a young gentleman called Valancourt. Emily's father becomes ill and dies. Emily is then sent to live with her aunt, Madame Cheron. Madame Cheron marries the villain of the novel, Montoni. He takes his new wife and Emily to live at Udolopho in the north of Italy. They are in effect Montoni's prisoners. Montoni threatens his wife in an attempt to force her to sign over her property to him. In the event of her death, the property would otherwise go to Emily. Montoni orders Emily to marry Count Morano; she refuses. Many frightening events terrify Emily during her enforced stay at Udolpho. The novel does have a happy ending, however, Emily does get ownership of her aunt's property, and she is reunited with Valancourt.

Jane Austen's readers would be familiar with the form of the Gothic novel. They would also be familiar with the customs of the fashionable resort and spa city of Bath. Jane Austen lived in Bath from 1801 until 1806. Knowledge of the social customs of Bath is helpful is appreciating 'Northanger Abbey' as a large part of the novel is set in the city. Bath was massively expanded during the Georgian era. It became a pleasure resort for the rich who required upmarket housing. Therefore the city was laid out in elegant terraces and squares. The housing was palatial and classical in style. The Theatre Royal, the Assembly Rooms, the Pump-room, The Crescent, The Circus, Lansdown Crescent and Pulteney Bridge were built in the eighteenth century.

In eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Britain, assembly rooms were meeting places for the upper classes. They were open to both men and women. At this time, woman had fewer options than men when it came to entertainment outside their homes. They could go to the theatre, but there were very few theatres outside London. Assembly rooms tended to be large places capable of holding many hundreds of people. The people who frequented assembly rooms were scrutinized to make sure no one from the lower classes could gain admittance. Single ladies had to be accompanied by a chaperone. Bath had two assembly rooms: the Upper Rooms which were near the Circus and the Lower Rooms which were near the Pump-room. The Upper Rooms and the Lower rooms were in competition with each other. Both sets of rooms had a Master of Ceremonies one of whose duties was to introduce people to each other. The assembly rooms played an important part in finding a suitable marriage partner. Making a suitable marriage is important in the novels of Jane Austen. Finding a rich young gentleman is in the thoughts of many of Austen's heroines.

The Pump-room is a collection of chambers built above the Roman Baths. It was here to the Georgian upper classes came to 'take the waters'. In the Pump-room, people were introduced to each other. It was a place to kindle new friendships. Visitors who were new to the Pump-room were asked to sign the visitors' book.

'Northanger Abbey' is about the development from girlhood to womanhood of Catherine Morland. Catherine's view of the world is coloured by reading Gothic novels. As she matures throughout the novel, she, more and more, learns to distinguish between illusion and reality, and she becomes more aware of the power of imagination to distort her view of the world. Catherine's view of the world is warped by the things she reads in Gothic novels. This causes her to see horror and mystery in things that are really mundane. Throughout the novel, Catherine suffers disillusionment and humility as part of the growing-up process.

Catherine is a clergyman's daughter. She is seventeen years old, and lives in a country village. One day, Catherine receives an invitation to go to Bath for six weeks with her neighbours, Mr and Mrs Allen.

In Bath, Mrs Allen chaperones Catherine to her first ball, but only after three or four days of the latter receiving instructions on what should be worn on such an occasion. The ball was held in the Upper Rooms near the Circus and the Crescent. As they know no one in Bath, they are both bored and disappointed with the ball. Mrs Allen wishes they could make some acquaintances in Bath.

On the day when they visit the Pump-room, they have better luck. The Master of Ceremonies introduces Catherine to Henry Tilney. Catherine enjoys Henry's company. She goes to the Pump-room to look for him the following day. She is disappointed when he is not there. Mrs Allen chances to meet her old school friend Mrs Thorpe who has a son and three daughters. The son, John, knows Catherine's brother, James; they were at Oxford University together. The eldest daughter, Isabella, becomes a firm friend of Catherine. When it is too wet to go out Catherine and Isabella read novels together.

Isabella has a predilection for Gothic novels. She is able to supply Catherine with the details of all the latest horrid novels that were in vogue with young ladies of this time. Isabella makes 'a list of ten or twelve more of the same kind'. One of these novels is Ann Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho.

After Catherine had been in Bath for six weeks, the Allens decide that their stay should only last another fortnight. Catherine is devasted at the prospect of leaving and losing contact with Henry Tilney. Her happiness is restored when she is invited by the Tilneys to spend some time at their family home, 'Northanger Abbey', which is an ancient building similar to those in the Gothic novels she has read.

On the journey to 'Northanger Abbey', Henry teases Catherine about the terrifying experiences she is likely to have during her stay. Henry is aware of Catherine's predilection for reading Gothic novels, so he asks her, 'Are you prepared to encounter all the horrors that a building such as "what one reads about" may produce?' Mimicking the language of the Gothic novel, he goes on to talk about sliding panels, dimly lit halls, instruments of torture and gloomy passages etc. His reference to a 'a ponderous chest' and a 'violent storm' turns out to be prophetic. Catherine is not sure whether to believe him or not. On arival, Catherine is surprised that the Abbey is more modern and comfortable than she expected, and her room is not as gloomy as the appartments in the Gothic novels she has read. In her room, Catherine discovers 'An immense heavy chest!'. Catherine determines to find out what this large black and yellow japanned chest contains.

In the scene with the chest, the reader can examine how Jane Austen skilfully parodies the work of Anne Radcliffe. Austen also uses the scene to give the reader an insight to some of Catherine's mental processes. The reader can also see how Catherine, in her naivety, confuses reality and fantasy.

Austen creates a comic effect by placing her heroine is a spoof Gothic scene. She builds the tension by using nouns like 'tempest', 'awe' and 'fury' and adjectives like 'stormy', 'dreadful' and 'horrid'. Austen informs the reader of the frame of mind of heroine by using a figure of speech known as antithesis. In refering to the noise of the storm whistling round the building and causing a door to slam very loudly, Austen says 'Yes these were characteristic sounds;- they brought to her recollection a countless variety of dreadful situations and horrid scenes, which such buildings had witnessed, and such storms ushered in; and most heartily did she rejoice in the happier circumstances attending her entrance within walls so solemn!'. The first part of the sentence describes the sounds of the storm and the Gothic visions they evoke in Catherine's mind. The second part of the sentence changes to one of 'happier circumstances'. The use of this literary device illustrates the conflict between illusion and reality in Catherine's mind. A conflict that she, in her immaturity, is blissfully unaware of.

Autsen pokes fun at the Radcliffean novelistic conventions. In a Radcliffean novel, the heroine typically finds herself in a large house at night where 'she unlocks hidden doorways, feels her way down dark passages, and finds equivocal keys to the past- a familiar-looking portrait, a blood-stained dagger, a scroll of paper or a chest big enough to hold a human skeleton.' (Quoted from Marilyn Butler's introduction to 'Northanger Abbey' (1995).)

In the japanned chest scene, Austen portrays Catherine in the role of the Radcliffean heroine. Catherine decides to search the black and yellow japanned cabinet. This merely a cabinet in the bedroom of a respectable family's home, but the search of the cabinet by Catherine is described in the language associated with Gothic horror novels. The action takes place against the backdrop of a storm as 'The wind roared down the chimney and the rain beat in torrents against the windows%u2026'.

The Radcliffean heroine is usually a victim of her own mental or emotional responsiveness. Austen pokes fun at this convention. In Radcliffe's 'The Mysteries of Udolpho', when Emily St Aubert sees the castle that belongs to the villainous Montoni,' she gazed with melancholy awe' upon the edifice. When Emily enters an abandoned chamber in the castle, she lifts a veil that she believes is covering a picture. The veil did cover a picture, but this was not revealed to Emily at this point in the novel, but the experience was sufficiently horrible to cause Emily to faint. Austen places Catherine in a situation that is similar to this Radcliffean Gothic setting. Austen achieves a comic burlesque effect by portraying Catherine as believing herself to be in a similar peril to a Gothic heroine, such as Emily, because she has been influenced by Gothic novels to the point where she believes the illusions created in them equate to real life and her own situation. Catherine reflects on 'a countless variety of dreadful situations and horrid scenes, which such buildings had witnessed%u2026'. When Catherine opens the black and yellow cabinet 'her heart fluttered, her knees trembled and her cheeks grew pale.' The Radcliffean convention is further parodied when Austen continues to build the suspense by not immediately revealing the contents of the papers she found the cabinet when she eventually opened it. Catherine has to seek the solace of her bed; 'she jumped hastily in and sought some suspension of agony by creeping underneath the clothes.'

This scene is one of many examples in the novel, of Catherine's view of the world being distorted by the things she has read in Gothic novels that cause her to experience fearfulness and perplexity in situations that are in reality very ordinary. It is also one of many examples of Catherine undergoing ignominy and disenchantment as part of the development from child to adult. The scene also shows some of the qualities that Catherine will have to 'unlearn' before she can pass into a state of maturity.

Recommended further reading:

Persuasion by Jane Austen (1818)
The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe (1794)
The Italian by Ann Radcliffe (1796)

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