Q. Consider significance of the title in relation to your own understanding of the novel, 'Northanger Abbey' by Jane Austen.
Northanger Abbey is a parody of gothic novels, it was written by Jane Austen at a time when her society distracted itself from reality by indulging in the gothic genre that showed a world of magic and mystery, were a damsel in distress was romanticised and heroes shown as the perfect men. It is no surprise therefore that the novel's title also acts as a parody as gothic novels were often named after places where the action took place.
It is important to note that the title was not chosen by Jane Austen. She had wanted to name is 'Susan' back when she had named Catherine 'Susan'. We ask ourselves why she wanted to name it after the protagonist and why her brother had changed it to solidify it as a parody. Austen perhaps wanted to name it after Catherine because more important than the mockery of the gothic genre is Catherine; development, of how she goes from a naive countryside girl to becoming a much more mature version of herself. We see her gain experiences through interaction with the Thorpes and Tilneys but we see her most important development take place in the second volume. This part of the book has a much more serious atmosphere than the rest of the book. Although Austen does poke fun at various gothic elements and Catherine's interpretation of them, she also introduces important themes and emphasises on how reading material at times does not reflect reality and rather deludes one. Therefore the lessons Catherine learnt and forwards to the readers make her the most important persona in this novel. Furthermore, as it is a coming of age novel and Catherine being a young woman herself, it makes sense to name the novel after her i order to attract young people towards it. It was also a popular trend to name novels after its characters back then such as 'Heidi', 'Little Women', 'Little Princess', 'Jane Eyer'. Austen had also previously named 'Sense and Sensibility' after its main protagonists and similarly one of her novels 'Emma' is named after its protagonist so it is understandable why she would want to name it after Catherine.
Her brother's naming it 'Northanger Abbey' is justified as well, since the novel holds so many references to gothic novels. The Abbey itself is a gothic element and its interior seems to Catherine various representations of the gothic genre.Austen pokes fun at it in such a way that the gloomy staircase is just an innocuous one, the mysterious transcript Catherine finds are merely laundry receipts. We see how Catherine links the thunder and the countless pictures of ancestors to gothic novels as well and we also see Austen poking fun at how ordinary such things are. We see Catherine learn her lesson and face perhaps her biggest discouragement when she is confronted by Henry on her beliefs of General Tiley being a murderer. She is so ashamed of herself that she vows never to link Gothic novels to reality again. She further realises how real life is not black and white like gothic novels, she realises that people have both good and bad in them and that no one is perfect.
We see how she grows conscious of Isabella's manipulations and we realise that villains in our lives don't always have to be creepy men with sinister smiles and big abbeys where they keep innocent women imprisoned, they can be people like Isabella Thorpe, people whom we trust and whom pretend to be our friends but only stick by us when they need us and instead of helping us improve they feed us lies and fantasies that not only keep us isolated from reality but also make it easier for them to manipulate us.
We also realise that Henry, the hero of our protagonist therefore a key character, is a gothic elements as well. He seems to be the perfect man with intelligence and knowledge on subjects such as muslin, something most men would not bother to learn of. We see how he helps Catherine mature, how he helps her realise Isabella's motives. He makes Catherine realises her assumptions of the General were absurd and forgives her readily. If we look at what Catherine has contributed to this relationship we see that besides hero worship that made Henry interest in her, there is no significant input. Austen often relates relationships in which two people help each other grow like in 'Pride and Prejudice'. Darcy helps Elizebeth helps Darcy realise her vanity and incorrect quick judgements, while Elizebeth helps Darcy realise his pride hurts people. They both compliment each other as they re perhaps equal in intelligence and while Elizebeth's liveliness makes Darcy more open, his maturity makes Elizebeth more down to Earth. We see no such thing between Catherine and Henry. Henry already is quite lively, has good social skills, good imagination and is mature considering he is able to see right through Catherine and Isabella. Therefore it may be said that their relationship is not realistic and represents the gothic genre where a man seems perfect and the woman seems to be in need of his help all the time. This is reflected by the Gothic title.
Austen introduces a deux machina in the form of Eleanor's convenient marriage to a suddenly rich man, making way for Henry and Catherine's marriage as well. She herself admits that it is random and the readers, after reading through the mockery of the gothic genre, are left astounded as to ho the author count contradict herself by depicting a typical Gothic ending and we realise that this is after all a parody therefore the ending is much similar to the title, it is an imitation the gothic genre that ironically mocks it. Imitation may be the best form of flattery but here it draws humour. The title perhaps even draws gothic fans towards this book only to have them finish it and realise the absurdities they fed their minds, therefore it succeeds in making a difference and cementing the book as a revolutionary one. If the novel had been named after Catherine it could have been an equal success and equally significant as the present title as Catherine is a modern heroine, she learns from her mistakes and her naivety can not be blamed upon her intelligence but rather her lack of experience. She is seen to say, 'If I can not be persuaded into doing something I think wrong, I will surely not be tricked into it.' much before Henry influences her so we see how she is true to herself and confident in her morals which makes her worthy of the book being named after her.
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English Literature 9695
Non-FictionThis is a compilation of all the essays and notes I wrote while I was in ALevels. It must be noted that not all of of these are A* material (though none goes lower than a grade B) so they aren't meant to be copy pasted for your school assignments. U...
