If you’re new to this Substack, one of the things I’m offering subscribers in 2023 is A Year with Jane. We’re reading through Austen’s six novels this year and Northanger Abbey is our read for October. This is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
I think Northanger Abbey is easily the snarkiest out of all of Austen’s books. She really lets her narrator laugh at the foibles and flaws of her characters in a way that’s much more direct than in the other Austen novels. We are meant to be ‘above’ and better judging than Catherine in a way we aren’t with other Austen novels where we are “taken in” as they are. Austen makes it painfully clear that the Thorpes are bad news, whereas with characters like Willoughby and Wickham the red flags only appear in hindsight. And I think that’s because of the kind of heroine Catherine is. She is the innocent, simple, good hearted protagonist who has lived a sheltered life and is forced to become acquainted with “the ways of the world.” Catherine’s mistake is to focus on fictional dangers and miss the daily/more mundane dangers she is more likely to face (she’s right to be wary of General Tilney and sees enough to realize that he is not an ideal father, but she is wrong to think the danger he presents is that which she reads about in novels). I think Catherine is very similar to Jane Bennett/a younger version of her-sees the best in others/assumes everyone is operating from good motives because she does so herself. Unlike Jane though, her match is not similar to her in temperament but rather an opposite that balances her out. Henry can help her discern more clearly the ways in which people/situations can be more/worse than they appear, and Catherine can keep Henry’s cynicism in check/save him from only seeing duplicity/inconsistency in the world.
I love Catherine and want to give her a big hug as she is so warm hearted . When I first read this I was inspired to have a go with some gothic novels . Boy did I struggle as they go on and on and on. The thing that impresses me is the incredible physical strength of the heroines when their virtue is threatened, especially the one who escaped the clutches of the villain by making a canoe and canoeing from North America to England , quite some feat
Catherine doesn’t feel like much of a protagonist yet, but she has a huge potential for character growth! She’s very ‘cute’ and it is funny to see her confusion when people’s words and actions don’t line up. What to make of that? She’s not very intelligent but she is good-hearted and she knows right from wrong, she’s just not able to see through the APPEARANCE of good to ulterior motives behind it. She would never wear a mask and it never occurs to her that other people might be. Chalk it up to a lax/bad education and sheltered childhood?
I absolutely love this book. I first read it when I was Catherine's age and felt very much a kinship with her. I was quiet, kind, very naive, and into novels (especially Gothic ones). In rereading it, I love Henry Tilney even more and find the book laugh out loud funny. I think we aren't fully meant to buy into Catherine as a shining example of a heroine. Some of the narration pokes fun at her or holds her imperfections up to the light in a way that is not done in the other books. Also, love to hate John Thorpe. Juliet Stevenson does a brilliant job voicing him.
I’ll be honest - I definitely didn’t pace myself with the reading and finished it in a couple days. At the end of chapter 8 I remember wondering when the Gothic portion would start, as the closest the story had come was in Catherine’s reading Udolpho. It seems almost as though the first half of the novel is setting the stage for the second half, where much of the “Gothic” satire actually takes place.
Northanger Abbey seems to be much more of a meta-novel than the other Austen books I’ve read. It’s very self-aware, the narrator very frequently makes funny asides to the reader, and it subverts Gothic novel expectations and tropes at every turn. Whereas some of her other novels have a more subtle (but still hilarious) satirical side, Northanger Abbey plays up the snarky humor to an extent that I haven’t seen in Austen’s other works.
As far as Catherine goes among Austen protagonists, she’s not my favorite. She’s relatable when I think about my awkwardness and faux-pas as a seventeen year old, and but after a sensible and discerning protagonist like Eleanor, or even a character like Marianne, who is at times foolish but still very intelligent, Catherine, I think, falls short in the heroine department. She has her good moments, but when her chief character strengths are good nature and youthful ignorance, they leave more to be desired.
I read this one many years ago when I was trying to read through all of Jane Austen for the first time. I’ve re-read all of them since then-except this one, which I guess shows that it wasn’t my style. I think I didn’t understand at the time that it was supposed to be satirical. I’m enjoying it this time, laughing more as I read.😊 I agree with other readers who like Catherine, but she is so different from other Austen heroines that it’s hard to see her in that role.
I like it more than I did the first time I read it, although I think the asides from the narrator are a bit jarring and very unlike Austen. Maybe there’s something about this stylistic choice that I’m missing? As for Catherine, I find her pretty likable as a heroine. She’s definitely naive, but we do see her stand her ground on some issues and I think that speaks highly of her character.
That's what really struck me too about this section. I kept wondering what the heck was going on with all the interjections from the narrator. A page and a half about whether people should read novels? What the heck? Skimmmmm.
Maybe it’s just the slow start, but I’m struggling to get into it, sooo much walking around the pump room. I want to like it more than I do, but I feel like as a modern reader unfamiliar with the gothic style, I’m missing some context to really appreciate what is going here. I thought it was amusing reading the beginning note apologizing that it was written many years before it was published, but I definitely get the feeling that it is written more as a culturally-relevant comedy than a timeless story.
This is my first time through this book. It feels a bit like Fanny Price again. Someone of more modest means being thrust into a different environment. Being befriended possibly falsely by someone interested in her brother. I'm intrigued by the way Austen is showing Isabella sucking up to Catherine, while Catherine doesn't do the same with Miss Tilney. I don't know where this book is going, but I keep wanting to say to Catherine, "Girl, that Mr. Tilney is just not into you." Maybe I am wrong. I will see how I feel after the next several chapters.
I think Northanger Abbey is easily the snarkiest out of all of Austen’s books. She really lets her narrator laugh at the foibles and flaws of her characters in a way that’s much more direct than in the other Austen novels. We are meant to be ‘above’ and better judging than Catherine in a way we aren’t with other Austen novels where we are “taken in” as they are. Austen makes it painfully clear that the Thorpes are bad news, whereas with characters like Willoughby and Wickham the red flags only appear in hindsight. And I think that’s because of the kind of heroine Catherine is. She is the innocent, simple, good hearted protagonist who has lived a sheltered life and is forced to become acquainted with “the ways of the world.” Catherine’s mistake is to focus on fictional dangers and miss the daily/more mundane dangers she is more likely to face (she’s right to be wary of General Tilney and sees enough to realize that he is not an ideal father, but she is wrong to think the danger he presents is that which she reads about in novels). I think Catherine is very similar to Jane Bennett/a younger version of her-sees the best in others/assumes everyone is operating from good motives because she does so herself. Unlike Jane though, her match is not similar to her in temperament but rather an opposite that balances her out. Henry can help her discern more clearly the ways in which people/situations can be more/worse than they appear, and Catherine can keep Henry’s cynicism in check/save him from only seeing duplicity/inconsistency in the world.
Get well soon!
I love Catherine and want to give her a big hug as she is so warm hearted . When I first read this I was inspired to have a go with some gothic novels . Boy did I struggle as they go on and on and on. The thing that impresses me is the incredible physical strength of the heroines when their virtue is threatened, especially the one who escaped the clutches of the villain by making a canoe and canoeing from North America to England , quite some feat
I've never read this one before, and I am LOVING it. I didn't know Austen could get any more sarcastic, but here she is, and I am here. For. It.
Catherine doesn’t feel like much of a protagonist yet, but she has a huge potential for character growth! She’s very ‘cute’ and it is funny to see her confusion when people’s words and actions don’t line up. What to make of that? She’s not very intelligent but she is good-hearted and she knows right from wrong, she’s just not able to see through the APPEARANCE of good to ulterior motives behind it. She would never wear a mask and it never occurs to her that other people might be. Chalk it up to a lax/bad education and sheltered childhood?
You've hit on something key here: Catherine would not behave duplicitously, so she cannot conceive how others could!
I absolutely love this book. I first read it when I was Catherine's age and felt very much a kinship with her. I was quiet, kind, very naive, and into novels (especially Gothic ones). In rereading it, I love Henry Tilney even more and find the book laugh out loud funny. I think we aren't fully meant to buy into Catherine as a shining example of a heroine. Some of the narration pokes fun at her or holds her imperfections up to the light in a way that is not done in the other books. Also, love to hate John Thorpe. Juliet Stevenson does a brilliant job voicing him.
Juliet is AMAZING at John Thorpe!
I’ll be honest - I definitely didn’t pace myself with the reading and finished it in a couple days. At the end of chapter 8 I remember wondering when the Gothic portion would start, as the closest the story had come was in Catherine’s reading Udolpho. It seems almost as though the first half of the novel is setting the stage for the second half, where much of the “Gothic” satire actually takes place.
Northanger Abbey seems to be much more of a meta-novel than the other Austen books I’ve read. It’s very self-aware, the narrator very frequently makes funny asides to the reader, and it subverts Gothic novel expectations and tropes at every turn. Whereas some of her other novels have a more subtle (but still hilarious) satirical side, Northanger Abbey plays up the snarky humor to an extent that I haven’t seen in Austen’s other works.
As far as Catherine goes among Austen protagonists, she’s not my favorite. She’s relatable when I think about my awkwardness and faux-pas as a seventeen year old, and but after a sensible and discerning protagonist like Eleanor, or even a character like Marianne, who is at times foolish but still very intelligent, Catherine, I think, falls short in the heroine department. She has her good moments, but when her chief character strengths are good nature and youthful ignorance, they leave more to be desired.
I read this one many years ago when I was trying to read through all of Jane Austen for the first time. I’ve re-read all of them since then-except this one, which I guess shows that it wasn’t my style. I think I didn’t understand at the time that it was supposed to be satirical. I’m enjoying it this time, laughing more as I read.😊 I agree with other readers who like Catherine, but she is so different from other Austen heroines that it’s hard to see her in that role.
I like it more than I did the first time I read it, although I think the asides from the narrator are a bit jarring and very unlike Austen. Maybe there’s something about this stylistic choice that I’m missing? As for Catherine, I find her pretty likable as a heroine. She’s definitely naive, but we do see her stand her ground on some issues and I think that speaks highly of her character.
True! She does try to do the right thing!
That's what really struck me too about this section. I kept wondering what the heck was going on with all the interjections from the narrator. A page and a half about whether people should read novels? What the heck? Skimmmmm.
Maybe it’s just the slow start, but I’m struggling to get into it, sooo much walking around the pump room. I want to like it more than I do, but I feel like as a modern reader unfamiliar with the gothic style, I’m missing some context to really appreciate what is going here. I thought it was amusing reading the beginning note apologizing that it was written many years before it was published, but I definitely get the feeling that it is written more as a culturally-relevant comedy than a timeless story.
lol! So much walking around the pump room. SO MUCH.
This is my first time through this book. It feels a bit like Fanny Price again. Someone of more modest means being thrust into a different environment. Being befriended possibly falsely by someone interested in her brother. I'm intrigued by the way Austen is showing Isabella sucking up to Catherine, while Catherine doesn't do the same with Miss Tilney. I don't know where this book is going, but I keep wanting to say to Catherine, "Girl, that Mr. Tilney is just not into you." Maybe I am wrong. I will see how I feel after the next several chapters.
Also, I’m so sorry that your family has been sick! I wish you all a speedy recovery!
I just want to give Catherine all the support and advice! And I truly cannot STAND John Thorpe!!