Editing Northanger Abbey (section)

==Major themes==
As in all of Austen's novels, the subjects of society, status, behavior, and morality are addressed. ''Northanger Abbey'', however, being chronologically the first novel completed by Austen (though revised later in her life), is notably considered a "point of departure" from her other work as a result of the "boldness with which it flaunts its ... deceptive air of simplicity with broad, bold humour".<ref name="Lascelles, Mary 1963">Lascelles, Mary. ''Jane Austen and Her Art''. Oxford University Press, 1963.</ref>

=== Love, marriage and high society ===
{{See also|Marriage in the works of Jane Austen}}[[File:2northanger abbey-01.jpg|thumb|Isabella and Catherine walking arm and arm in an illustration by [[H. M. Brock]] from a 1904 edition of the novel]]Throughout ''Northanger Abbey'', Austen demonstrates the ways in which women are socially and economically disadvantaged.<ref name="auto2">{{Cite journal |last=Zlotnick |first=Susan |date=2009 |title=From Involuntary Object to Voluntary Spy: Female Agency, Novels, and the Marketplace in Northanger Abbey |journal=Studies in the Novel |volume=41 |issue=3 |page=280 |doi=10.1353/sdn.0.0068 }}</ref> Beth Lau demonstrates how Austen depicts Isabella wanting to be of higher status by choosing Captain Tilney over James Morland.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lau |first=Beth |date=2018 |title=Sexual Selection and Female Choice in Austen's Northanger Abbey |journal=Studies in the Novel |volume=50 |issue=4 |page=475 |doi=10.1353/sdn.2018.0038 }}</ref> Isabella tries to shop around in marriage market even though she does not have any choices to make.<ref name=":18">{{Cite journal |last=Zlotnick |first=Susan |date=2009 |title=From Involuntary Object to Voluntary Spy: Female Agency, Novels, and the Marketplace in Northanger Abbey |journal=Studies in the Novel |volume=41 |issue=3 |page=281 |doi=10.1353/sdn.0.0068 }}</ref> In doing so, she is turning herself into a commodity with nothing to offer.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Zlotnick |first=Susan |date=2009 |title=From Involuntary Object to Voluntary Spy: Female Agency, Novels, and the Marketplace in Northanger Abbey |journal=Studies in the Novel |volume=41 |issue=3 |page=282 |doi=10.1353/sdn.0.0068 }}</ref> The washing bill that Catherine finds in the abbey works to highlight the disadvantaged position women hold to men economically.<ref name=":19">{{Cite journal |last=Zlotnick |first=Susan |date=2009 |title=From Involuntary Object to Voluntary Spy: Female Agency, Novels, and the Marketplace in Northanger Abbey |journal=Studies in the Novel |volume=41 |issue=3 |page=278 |doi=10.1353/sdn.0.0068 }}</ref> It is because of women that men's economic position advances.<ref name=":19" /> To contrast the lack of choice women have in the economy, Austen uses the novel to give women a choice.<ref name="auto2"/> Catherine is able to consume/buy novels rather than be a participant/commodity.<ref name=":18" /> Eleanor, however, is trapped within patriarchy through her selection to read masculine history instead of novels.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Zlotnick |first=Susan |date=2009 |title=From Involuntary Object to Voluntary Spy: Female Agency, Novels, and the Marketplace in Northanger Abbey |journal=Studies in the Novel |volume=41 |issue=3 |page=285 |doi=10.1353/sdn.0.0068 }}</ref>

Both General Tilney and Captain Tilney work as examples of superficiality within the high society.<ref name=":20">{{Cite journal |last=Lau |first=Beth |date=2018 |title=Sexual Selection and Female Choice in Austen's Northanger Abbey |journal=Studies in the Novel |volume=50 |issue=4 |page=474 |doi=10.1353/sdn.2018.0038 }}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last=Wyett |first=Jodi L. |date=2015 |title=Female Quixotism Refashioned: Northanger Abbey, the Engaged Reader, and the Woman Writer |journal=The Eighteenth Century |volume=56 |issue=2 |page=271 |doi=10.1353/ecy.2015.0011 }}</ref> With General Tilney, it is evident throughout the novel, but a specific clue is his obsession with fine China.<ref name=":7" /> This obsession showcases his greed and superficiality.<ref name=":7" /> For Frederick, known as "The Captain," he represents Society's dual standards for behavior for men and women.<ref name="austenauthors.net">{{Cite news |last=Jeffers |first=Regina |date=2015-03-30 |title=What Do We Know of Catherine Morland and the Tilneys in Jane Austen's "Northanger Abbey," + Giveaway |url=http://austenauthors.net/what-do-we-know-of-catherine-morland-and-the-tilneys-in-jane-austens-northanger-abbey/ |access-date=2017-11-27 |work=Austen Authors}}</ref> Captain Tilney refuses to dance with any of the women as a result of his disregard for them.<ref name=":20" /> Because of his higher status, he believes he is better than the women present.<ref name=":20" /> He also adds to the mystique of the Tilney family: Like father, Like son.<ref name="austenauthors.net" /> Frederick's actions make Henry and Eleanor more sympathetic characters and his ruining of Isabella does the same for her character.<ref name="austenauthors.net" /> Henry makes it clear that Captain Tilney is just using Isabella since he would not marry someone in a lower status.<ref name=":20" /> Regina Jeffers notes that many readers perceive Frederick as nothing but selfish, greedy, and conniving.<ref name="austenauthors.net" />

When Henry tries to dissuade Catherine of her Gothic-inspired notions that General Tilney is a murderer, he cites male authors that were so influential in establishing rules of proper conduct.<ref name="Irvine, Robert page 422">Irvine, Robert ''Jane Austen'', London: Routledge, 2005 p. 42.</ref> This is an attempt to try to dismiss one genre that was popular with women with another genre that was popular with men.<ref name="Irvine, Robert page 422" /> Austen uses this discourse of the essays as an example of imposing power over women by using a type of language that limits what one may think.<ref>Irvine, Robert ''Jane Austen'', London: Routledge, 2005 pp. 44–45.</ref> Henry's speech is that expected of a polite society in Britain at the time.<ref name="Irvine, Robert page 452">Irvine, Robert ''Jane Austen'', London: Routledge, 2005 p. 45.</ref> The ingenue Catherine is unfamiliar with the ways of a polite society.<ref name="Irvine, Robert page 462">Irvine, Robert ''Jane Austen'', London: Routledge, 2005 p. 46.</ref> Henry establishes himself as worthy of being Catherine's husband in his role as a "lover mentor" who teaches Catherine the ways of polite society to allow her to eventually fit in.<ref name="Irvine, Robert page 462" />

=== Life lived as in a Gothic novel ===
By creating a heroine who is an ordinary girl,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Glock |first=Waldo S. |date=1978 |title=Catherine Morland's Gothic Delusions: A Defense of Northanger Abbey |journal=Rocky Mountain Review |volume=32 |issue=1 |page=36 }}</ref> Austen is upending the traditional role of Gothic heroines.<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal |last=Glock |first=Waldo S. |date=1978 |title=Catherine Morland's Gothic Delusions: A Defense of Northanger Abbey |journal=Rocky Mountain Review |volume=32 |issue=1 |page=37 }}</ref> The way for Catherine to find happiness in her life is by having an ordinary one, not one full of Gothic fantasy.<ref name=":9">{{Cite journal |last=Glock |first=Waldo S. |date=1978 |title=Catherine Morland's Gothic Delusions: A Defense of Northanger Abbey |journal=Rocky Mountain Review |volume=32 |issue=1 |page=38 }}</ref> When Catherine fears that General Tilney murdered his wife, these ideas stem from her knowledge of Gothic novels.<ref name=":3">Irvine, Robert ''Jane Austen'', London: Routledge, 2005 p. 48.</ref> Her fears of fantastical evil prove to be false, but the book ends with her discovery of a realistic evil surrounding economic propositions.<ref name=":8" /> Once Catherine faces reality, she is able to find happiness.<ref name=":9" /> When General Tilney kicks Catherine out of the abbey, she leaves easily, acting inwardly rather than outwardly.<ref name=":8" /> Waldo S. Glock argues that this is a display of her genuineness instead of sentimentality.<ref name=":8" /> Catherine's internal display of sadness showcases how she is not a typical Gothic heroine.<ref name=":8" /> To contrast her, Isabella Thorpe acts more accurately as a Gothic heroine.<ref name=":8" /> Because of her insincerity, Isabella is more at danger to Gothic disillusionment and sentimental notions.<ref name=":8" />

Austen uses elements of Gothic fiction as a tool to help showcase portions of the marriage plot.<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal |last=Baudot |first=Laura Jeanne |date=2011 |title='Nothing Really in It': Gothic Interiors and the Externals of the Courtship Plot in Northanger Abbey |journal=Eighteenth-Century Fiction |volume=24 |issue=2 |page=341 |doi=10.3138/ecf.24.2.325 }}</ref> This is evident with the use of the cabinet at the abbey.<ref name=":12" /> When Henry comes up with a Gothic story to tease Catherine, he makes a joke about the narrator overlooking a cabinet that is crucial to the made-up story as a way to create tension.<ref name=":12" /> The act of overlooking a key detail is similar to the manner that marriage plots conceal information to build suspense.<ref name=":12" /> Gothic fiction also helps reveal negative aspects of marriage that are not as obvious in a traditional courtship plot.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Baudot |first=Laura Jeanne |date=2011 |title='Nothing Really in It': Gothic Interiors and the Externals of the Courtship Plot in Northanger Abbey |journal=Eighteenth-Century Fiction |volume=24 |issue=2 |page=342 |doi=10.3138/ecf.24.2.325 }}</ref>

''Northanger Abbey'' is a [[parody]] of Gothic fiction.<ref name=":10">{{Cite journal |last=Baudot |first=Laura Jeanne |date=2011 |title="Nothing Really in It": Gothic Interiors and the Externals of the Courtship Plot in Northanger Abbey |journal=Eighteenth-Century Fiction |volume=24 |issue=2 |page=343 |doi=10.3138/ecf.24.2.325 }}</ref> One way that Austen achieves this is through the washing bill that Catherine finds in the abbey.<ref name=":11">{{Cite journal |last=Baudot |first=Laura Jeanne |date=2011 |title='Nothing Really in It': Gothic Interiors and the Externals of the Courtship Plot in Northanger Abbey |journal=Eighteenth-Century Fiction |volume=24 |issue=2 |page=338 |doi=10.3138/ecf.24.2.325 }}</ref> Catherine thinks that there is an elaborate story behind the washing bills, but it leads to no big discovery.<ref name=":11" /> Austen reverses the expectation in Gothic fiction for there to be some sort of depth to a story with the washing bills.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Baudot |first=Laura Jeanne |date=2011 |title='Nothing Really in It': Gothic Interiors and the Externals of the Courtship Plot in Northanger Abbey |journal=Eighteenth-Century Plot |volume=24 |issue=2 |page=339 |via=Project Muse}}</ref> It also showcases Catherine as a victim of the economy for believing that the washing bill contained a larger story than it actually did.<ref name=":13">{{Cite journal |last=Zlotnick |first=Susan |date=2009 |title=From Involuntary Object to Voluntary Spy: Female Agency, Novels, and the Marketplace in Northanger Abbey |journal=Studies in the Novel |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=277–292 |doi=10.1353/sdn.0.0068 }}</ref> Susan Zlotnick highlights that it is common for Gothic novels to portray women as victims to the economy.<ref name=":13" /> Another way that Austen satirizes Gothic fiction is through the cabinet that Catherine finds the washing bills in.<ref name=":10" /> The cabinet is from Japan which plays on the Gothic idea of exoticism.<ref name=":10" /> It removes the exaggerated exotic feature to the scope of the room instead.<ref name=":10" /> In contrast, Robert Irvine, a British critic, argues that the interpretation of the novel as a complete satire of the Gothic genre is problematic even though parts of the book do satirize the Gothic novels popular in the 18th century.<ref name="Irvine, Robert page 432">Irvine, Robert ''Jane Austen'', London: Routledge, 2005 p. 43.</ref> ''Northanger Abbey'' makes fun of the silliness of Gothic fiction but also praises it and depends on it to tell the story.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite journal |last=Levine |first=George |date=1975 |title=Translating the Monstrous: Northanger Abbey |journal=Nineteenth-Century Fiction |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=341–343, 345 |doi=10.2307/2933073 |jstor=2933073 }}</ref>

=== Bildungsroman ===
The story begins with the narrator remarking that the heroine is not really a heroine.<ref name="Irvine, Robert page 412">Irvine, Robert ''Jane Austen'', London: Routledge, 2005 p. 41.</ref> The narrator describes Catherine as not especially clever, nor a great beauty, and good without being virtuous.<ref name="Irvine, Robert page 412" /> When the narrator has anything positive to say about Catherine, it is attached with the adjective "extraordinary."<ref name="Irvine, Robert page 412" /> Austen uses this term ironically since Catherine's traits are actually rather ordinary.<ref name="Irvine, Robert page 412" /> Another aspect of Catherine that makes her seem not really like a heroine is that she does not have any ambitions outside of being with Henry.<ref name="auto1"/> Because she actually has ambitions, Isabella appears more like a heroine, but it is those ambitions that turn her into a comedic villain.<ref name="auto1"/> By creating a protagonist who does not fit the traditional role of a heroine, Austen is satirizing how women were portrayed in contemporary literature.<ref name="Irvine, Robert page 412" />

At the beginning of the novel, Catherine has a hard time interpreting the actions of the people around her, especially Isabella.<ref name=":15">{{Cite journal |last=Lau |first=Beth |date=2018 |title=Sexual Selection and Female Choice in Austen's Northanger Abbey |journal=Studies in the Novel |volume=50 |issue=4 |page=470 |doi=10.1353/sdn.2018.0038 }}</ref> She does not understand Isabella's contradictory actions because she can not understand that there is a double meaning to what Isabella says.<ref name=":15" /> This creates confusion for Catherine which forces her to realize that she should not rely solely on others who are negative influences, such as Isabella.<ref name=":16">{{Cite journal |last=Lau |first=Beth |date=2018 |title=Sexual Selection and Female Choice in Austen's Northanger Abbey |journal=Studies in the Novel |volume=50 |issue=4 |pages=465–482 |doi=10.1353/sdn.2018.0038 }}</ref> Her inability to understand Isabella's contradictory actions has to do with Catherine's inability to grasp both the fictional and the real world.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Glock |first=Waldo S. |date=1978 |title=Catherine Morland's Gothic Delusions: A Defense of Northanger Abbey |journal=Rocky Mountain Review |volume=32 |issue=1 |page=39 }}</ref> However, Catherine develops to realize that she should be an independent thinker.<ref name=":16" />

Though Austen encourages her audience to read novels, Catherine must learn to separate life from fiction and to rein in her very active imagination.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wyett |first=Jodi L. |date=2015 |title=Female Quixotism Refashioned: Northanger Abbey, the Engaged Reader, and the Woman Writer |journal=The Eighteenth Century |volume=56 |issue=2 |page=269 |doi=10.1353/ecy.2015.0011 }}</ref> By focusing only on Gothic novels, Catherine is not able to interact with others properly.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wyett |first=Jodi L. |date=2015 |title=Female Quixotism Refashioned: Northanger Abbey, the Engaged Reader, and the Woman Writer |journal=The Eighteenth Century |volume=56 |issue=2 |page=272 |doi=10.1353/ecy.2015.0011 }}</ref> On the other hand, it is her novel reading that transforms her into a heroine and causes her to be an active character.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Zlotnick |first=Susan |date=2009 |title=From Involuntary Object to Voluntary Spy: Female Agency, Novels, and the Marketplace in Northanger Abbey |journal=Studies in the Novel |volume=41 |issue=3 |page=288 |doi=10.1353/sdn.0.0068 }}</ref> Henry also plays a role in Catherine's development from his teachings.<ref name="auto1"/> By the end of the novel, Catherine understands that people are not completely good nor completely bad.<ref name=":17">{{Cite journal |last=Lau |first=Beth |date=2018 |title=Sexual Selection and Female Choice in Austen's Northanger Abbey |journal=Studies in the Novel |volume=50 |issue=4 |page=473 |doi=10.1353/sdn.2018.0038 }}</ref> For example, she does not see Henry as without any faults.<ref name=":17" /> She recognizes that he has a superior attitude towards those he thinks are inferior to him.<ref name=":17" />

=== The value of reading ===
''Northanger Abbey'' is a story about reading novels.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=Baudot |first=Laura Jeanna |date=2011 |title="Nothing Really in It": Gothic Interiors and the Externals of the Courtship Plot in Northanger Abbey |journal=Eighteenth-Century Fiction |volume=24 |issue=2 |page=331 |doi=10.3138/ecf.24.2.325 }}</ref> Laura Jeanne Baudot highlights this point through the discussion of the washing bill Catherine finds in a cabinet at the abbey.<ref name=":4" /> Through the washing bill, Austen draws the audience's attention to the clothes that the fantasy man who marries Eleanor wears.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Baudot |first=Laura Jeanne |date=2011 |title="Nothing Really in It": Gothic Interiors and the Externals of the Courtship Plot in Northanger Abbey |journal=Eighteenth-Century Fiction |volume=24 |issue=2 |page=337 |doi=10.3138/ecf.24.2.325 }}</ref> Austen is forcing the audience to conjure up a cliché image of what the man looks like.<ref name=":5" /> In doing so, Austen is reminding the audience of their current act of reading.<ref name=":5" /> The body of the man reminds the audience of the physical act of reading a book.<ref name=":5" /> It is clear that Austen is defending novel reading.<ref name="auto3">{{Cite journal |last=Wyett |first=Jodi L. |date=2015 |title=Female Quixotism Refashioned: Northanger Abbey, the Engaged Reader, and the Woman Writer |journal=The Eighteenth Century |volume=56 |issue=2 |page=270 |doi=10.1353/ecy.2015.0011 }}</ref> Specifically, Henry Tilney, the hero of ''Northanger Abbey'',<ref name="Brownstein pages 32-572">Brownstein, Rachel "Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice" pp. 32–57 from ''The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997 page 40.</ref> is an ideal reader.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |last=Wyett |first=Jodi L. |date=2015 |title=Female Quixotism Refashioned: Northanger Abbey, the Engaged Reader, and the Woman Writer |journal=The Eighteenth Century |volume=56 |issue=2 |page=268 |doi=10.1353/ecy.2015.0011 }}</ref> Jodi L. Wyett classifies Henry as an ideal reader because of his knowledge about different texts from different genres.<ref name=":6" /> This flips the gender hierarchy by showing men as novel readers instead of women.<ref name="auto3"/> An early sign that Henry Tilney is the hero instead of John Thorpe is that the former likes to read books while the latter does not.<ref name="Brownstein pages 32-572" /> John Thorpe's lack of interest in reading novels, specifically in reading Radcliffe's novels, makes him boorish.<ref name=":7"/> It is hard for Catherine to connect with him because Catherine uses novels as a conversation starter.<ref name=":7" />

=== The importance of time ===
Various scholars such as the French historian [[Michel Foucault]] and the British Marxist [[E.P. Thompson]] have argued that the 18th century became the "era of the clock" as availability of mass-produced clocks and watches allowed time to be measured more accurately.<ref name=":02">Kickel, Katherine "General Tilney's Timely Approach to the Improvement of the Estate in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey" pp. 145–169 from ''Nineteenth-Century Literature'', Vol. 63, No. 2, September 2008 p. 147.</ref> From these devices creating a new increased emphasis on time management, Thompson called this era the beginning of "time discipline."<ref name=":02" /> As a result of living in the new era of "time discipline," Austen frequently uses clocks as symbols of General Tilney's authority over Northanger Abbey.<ref>Kickel, Katherine "General Tilney's Timely Approach to the Improvement of the Estate in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey" pp. 145–169 from ''Nineteenth-Century Literature'', Vol. 63, No. 2, September 2008 p. 148.</ref> General Tilney is always checking his watch and is most insistent that the servants as well as his own family observe the clocks to make sure they are on time.<ref>Kickel, Katherine "General Tilney's Timely Approach to the Improvement of the Estate in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey" pp. 145–169 from ''Nineteenth-Century Literature'', Vol. 63, No. 2, September 2008 p. 150.</ref> Because of the importance of staying on schedule, even when General Tilney is not around, clocks serve as a symbol of his power as Catherine finds herself always checking the time.<ref>Kickel, Katherine "General Tilney's Timely Approach to the Improvement of the Estate in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey" pp. 145–169 from ''Nineteenth-Century Literature'', Vol. 63, No. 2, September 2008 p. 155.</ref> After arriving at Northanger Abbey, Catherine discovers that everything at the abbey happens on a strict schedule because of General Tilney.<ref name=":1">Kickel, Katherine "General Tilney's Timely Approach to the Improvement of the Estate in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey" pp. 145–169 from ''Nineteenth-Century Literature'', Vol. 63, No. 2, September 2008 p. 153.</ref> This is a marked difference from Catherine's lax attitude that she displays in Bath.<ref name=":1" /> Catherine compares General Tilney to a clock, as something inhuman and mechanical that operates with no regard to the human body.<ref>Kickel, Katherine "General Tilney's Timely Approach to the Improvement of the Estate in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey" pp. 145–169 from ''Nineteenth-Century Literature'', Vol. 63, No. 2, September 2008 p. 156</ref> When Catherine visits the kitchen at Northanger Abbey, she notes that it is equipped with all manner of "modern" cooking equipment and that the cooks work in an efficient manner like soldiers performing a drill.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Kickel |first=Katherine |date=2008 |title=General Tilney's Timely Approach to the Improvement of the Estate in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey |journal=Nineteenth-Century Literature |volume=63 |issue=2 |page=160|doi=10.1525/ncl.2008.63.2.145 }}</ref> This is a direct reflection of the General's wish to have everything ordered.<ref name=":2" />