Northanger Abbey
Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen. Penguin Classics (ISBN: 9780141439792) 2003, first published 1817.
Summary: Catherine Moreland, in her first social season, avoids the attentions of one man and visits the family home of another.
Catherine Moreland was a clergyman’s daughter and one of ten children. A former tomboy, she has turned into an attractive seventeen-year old woman. She also loves to read Gothic novels. Family friends, the Allens invite her to join them for the summer social season at Bath. It is a round of balls, dances, and social gatherings. All of it fascinates her, but she and the Allens do not know anyone. Then they meet the Thorps.
Daughter Isabella and Catherine soon become fast friends, introducing her to The Mysteries of Udolpho. It’s all Catherine can talk about. But it all gets complicated when Catherine’s brother James and Isabella’s brother John join them. They are friends at Oxford. Isabella and James fall in love and get engaged, only to learn they will have to wait two years to marry when James receives a living worth £400. Meanwhile, John directs his attentions to Catherine but she does not return them.
Instead, Catherine likes Henry Tilney, a young clergyman with a benefice that is part of his father’s estate. Like so many Austen novels, she hope to run into Henry and deepen the acquaintance, with John doing his best to distract her. Finally, things look up when Henry’s father meets her and extends an invitation to visit the family at Northanger Abbey. Perhaps it’s just as well, because Isabella has begun flirting with Henry’s brother, leading to a breakup of the engagement.
Aside from Gothic fantasies about the old abbey, things go well. Catherine gets on well with Eleanor, Henry’s younger sister, and her somewhat eccentric father. Then there is a sudden turn. While Henry is away Catherine is suddenly sent back to her parents while the Tilneys leave on an unannounced visit to friends. Clearly, she has done something to arouse the ire of Henry’s father. But she hasn’t a clue. She has to go on a 70 mile journey without an escort and even has to borrow money to get home. A sad homecoming indeed. It doesn’t end here and you might be able to guess from other Jane Austen stories how it does. But you won’t hear it from me.
The novel has an interesting history. While published posthumously at the end of 1817, along with Persuasion, Austen completed a draft of the novel in 1799. Austen may have begun writing it as early as 1794. She also may have worked on revisions at the end of her life. This may account for the disjunct between the Bath portion of the novel and the Northanger Abbey portion. It feels like two stories stitched together. Also, there is this weird thing with multiple loves between three families, the Morelands, Thorps, and Tilneys. It sounds kind of in-bred.
Like other Austen novels money as well as love seems to dictate the affairs of love. And like so many, those who focus on money often end up surprised to find out the value of character. Finally, Northanger Abbey, with its wardrobes, closed off wings, and valley setting creates the perfect setting to spook Gothic-fascinated Catherine. I wonder if Austen was having fun spoofing the Gothics!