Northanger Abbey
(Jane Austen)
In what is a strikingly different pattern Jane Austen in this novel creates a heroine who does not reach the same exalted status that Austens heroines are accustomed to achieve.
Catherine Morland, like Emma, Elizabeth Bennet and the others undergoes a process of education, but her education is different in the sense that she does not carry with her an aura of invincibility from the beginning itself. She is the ugly duckling morphed into the beautiful swan during the course of the novel.
The basic plot of Northanger Abbey is, rather predictable- youthful love, loss of trust, education, hurdles in the way of marriage which disappear suddenly at the end, but it is the finer motif of practical experience which Austen weaves into this novel which calls for praise.
the characters in this novel are very life like in the sense that they do not exhibit heightened emotions which are almost customoray for novels of that period. Catherines parents do not wail in grief when she leaves , Catherine does not spend sleepless nights after meeting her love interest Tilney.Even the villians in this novel are the ones we are likey to encounter in our day to day life. Although driven by greed , the "villian" is not the type who lock up pretty damsels in dark dungeons.
what we can safely assume is that Austen is attempting a critique of the Gothic novel and she is very succesful in doing that. The best peice comes when Henry and Catherine converse on their way to Northanger. Its through Catherines education that this criticism is acheived, Catherine loves to be frightened and almost expects to be frightened but she soon realises that the idea that she forms from reading Mrs Radcliffe is not true to life at all. Infact she is more likely to be mislead by it.
In a nutshell it is a very delightful novel written in a style that cuts oit unneccesary details and make sthe novel very enjoyable indeed
Resumos Relacionados
- Abadia De Northanger
- Pursuation By Jean Austin
- Pride And Prejudice
- Pride And Prejudice
- Emma
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