Jane Austen NORTHANGER ABBEY analysis | Playful & Self-Conscious 1st Person Narrative Voice & Style

Jane Austen NORTHANGER ABBEY novel analysis | "a new circumstance in romance". Close reading & analysis of Jane Austen's self-conscious & playful first person narrative voice & writing style in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, including how Catherine Morland is presented by the narrative voice.

JANE AUSTEN NORTHANGER ABBEY NOVEL ANALYSIS
FIRST PERSON NARRATIVE VOICE

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[DrOctaviaCox]

Do leave any comments that you have.

Can you think of any other great examples of the narrative voice speaking directly to the reader in Austen's novels?

[mirandaoberhausen]

I am perhaps in a minority here, but I absolutely ADORED how Catherine
and Henry's relationship develops and explained and would LOVE a video where you explore it more.

Personally, I never viewed the fact that he didn't have any particular interest in her at first to be any indication that there was any lack of any real affection - quite the opposite, it read to me as a very mature coming to love (rather a fun contrast with how Catherine is rather young and a touch less mature to start with) It makes perfect sense, that Mr. Tilney, being a decent sort of guy, isn't necessarily looking to prey on his younger sister's friends, particularly ones that have been relatively sheltered and are really only just coming out in the world (again, perhaps a fun contrast between him and Mr. Thorpe?). But rather as he gets to know her as his sister's friend, and realizes she is catching feelings for him, (and for all that he likes teasing her more silly flights of fancy) HE TAKES HER SERIOUSLY! It's such a credit to him that he DOESN'T just blow off the fact that she is getting a crush on him as her just being a silly little girl but rather it causes him to give her "serious thought" - he regards her emotions and opinions on the matter as important, and worthy of consideration. And upon that consideration, an actual affection grew.

It makes up one of my reasons why I consider Henry Tilney one of Jane Austen's best, kindest, funniest and most decent of men that she created.

[brittanyhoward]

I'd love more videos on Northanger. It's my favorite of Austen's novels and terribly undervalued. Catherine is one of the most realistic depictions of female adolescence I've read, and I wonder sometimes if our dislike of teenage girls influences whether we take the novel seriously.

[cminmd]

I always think Austen makes almost all of her heroines so young (except for Anne, really) because she sees so many young women "coming out" and making the ONE important decision of their lives based only on the experiences of a VERY sheltered upbringings and the guidance of often unreliable parents.

[nosilla]

Just binge-listened to all of this novel on audiobook today and one thing I really like about Catherine (and the other characters as well) is that she is just a human person. Like you said she makes mistakes and her purpose isn’t to teach a lesson, instead she reflects the thoughts, emotions, and reactions that real people have. She can be extremely relatable to female readers, more so than any gothic heroine ever could, because she is there simply to be Catherine Morland and not an example of how a girl should behave.

[Speed]

Catherine Morland is, next to Fanny, my favorite Austen heroine for what Austen did to her: she made her virtue playful. I found her delightful.

[rachelport]

I can never read Norhanger Abbey without realizing how the ideal heroine and moral tale did not end with Austen's realism - just read the summaries of the novels several decades later in George Eliot's Silly Novels by Lady Novelists, which always leave me gaping. Northanger Abbey is such fun - the whole opening tells us all about what Catherine isn't, and this continues of course. The parody is broader than Austen's later work, and seems a transition from the juvenilia. I'm enjoying your videos.

[DestinyKiller]

One of my favorite parts of Northanger Abbey is the Bath walk and more specifically when Elinor and Catherine have their misunderstanding of the "something dreadful" in London, lol

[andreaoliveira]

What do you think about the comparison between Henry Tilney and Lizzie Bennet. Some people say that if Elisabeth was a male character she would be Henry Tilney or that Henry is Elisabeth in a male version.

[christinae]

I have rather split (ambigous?) thoughts of NA; in a way I find it shallow and not exciting
/young girl goes to Bath, dances a little, goes on a unsatisfying cab tour with a selfrighteous man, talkes about muslin, visit a new friend, imagine things because she's in an old house, have to go home, get engaged to a kind but rather average man/
But; to me Austen makes this a complex novel, like those pictures where you either see a couple or a vase. Here is this plain heroine in this uneventful story, but Austen makes you care for Catherine and she shows how Catherines imagination goes to far, but at the same time that we'd have done the same if we were there. She discuss novels and reading them in the novel, and kindly makes fun of how novels makes Catherine suspect the worst, and at the same time make us eagerly turn pages to get the story.
My feeling when reading NA is that Austen wrote this as a satire/mockery of romantic novels, as you drCox talked about, but at the same time writing so well that we have to do the same as with those more "serious" novels: read late at night, bite our nails, skip sleep, just to come to the end and wish we had not.
But also the style and set up of the novel make it look like she wrote it almost by coincidence, absentminded, but of course in reality she had all the subtle layers very clear in her mind, and could shape the story as she wanted.

(English' not my first language)

[Kittykatkits]

“Characters act virtuously and so are rewarded”

Marquis de Sade chuckles maniacally in the background

[margo]

I thought the carriage ride with John Thorpe and Catherine Morland was Jane Austen’s funniest episode.

[DavidBrowningBYD]

I am a big lover of Jane Austen on audiobook--so compatible with yarn work! I think I listen to most of the novels several times a year. But I have yet to find an audiobook version of Northanger Abbey that I can actually finish. I find those Thorpe people so detestable it makes me want to do ungentlemanly things out of anger! And very often the reader on the recording will adopt a perfectly dreadful tone of voice to indicate the characters of the Thorpes, which also annoys me greatly.
Regarding having the narrative voice speak directly to the audience, one very strong example comes to mind in dear Mr. Trollope's Doctor Thorne. (Yes, a few generations later than Jane Austen, but bear with me.) He states outright that the love story will have a happy ending, but the telling of the story will be what delights the reader.

[crystalward]

What I expect from the novel is for Northanger Abbey to become the plot for the movie sequel to Clueless with Josh & Cher taking the place of Mr. & Mrs. Allan. "Shops must be visited Catherine. Do you think you can bear it?" 😄🛍👒💄👗👚👜
"Ow! Catherine take this pin out of my sleeve! I hope it has torn a hole already. It's totally a favorite Calvin Klein!"

[frankupton]

"I cannot speak well enough to be unintelligible" - a satire on academics (though not Dr Cox).

[Speed]

Wow, Jane's "wild imagination" and "self-conscious playfulness" leading to Victorian Realism. The spectre of Jude the Obscure entered my mind here. Oof.

[effie]

I remember reading Northanger Abbey for the first time without giving the romance much though, until Mr Tilney confessed how Catherine having feelings for him influenced his own interest in her, that made me pause and think back about how he enjoys teasing her for not understanding things, and how in general I never noticed any peculiar signs of attachment coming from him, which made me wonder if these two characters would end up like Mr and Mrs Bennet in the future

[missioncardiac]

Tut tut, Catherine, you not only play cricket but also baseball? (The first reference to the game in classic literature?) A romantic heroine should be able to shed tears copiously, and as has been demonstrated definitively 200 years after you were born, “There’s no crying in baseball”. This won’t do at all.

[PriyankitaPant]

The first few chapters felt like the reel vs real trend we have today.

[AuntieDawnsKitchen]

It’s sometimes hard to believe that “Jane Eyre” was written after “Northanger Abbey” given how much the latter seems a parody of Brontë.