Gothic Parody

Yet another book from my literature class, haha! This novel is, in the most literal sense, a book about books. It is a story that follows a rathe simple girl. It is repeatedly emphasized that this simple girl doesn't fit the typical heroine role. Our heroine's name is Catherine Morland, described as lacking in any exceptional talents and abundant in politeness and naivety. Invited to "vacation" in Bath with some family friends, Catherine sets out on her debut and finds herself acquainted with a whole host of new friends. The main part of what makes this novel a parody of its Gothic genre is that Catherine looks at life like one of the many novels she has absorbed throughout her young years. Austen also inserts some not-so-subtle commentary on her opinions concerning novels and novel-reading in her current political climate (see Chapter 5). She plays off of her readers' expectations of what a Gothic genre story should possess (a dark, mysterious abbey, suspense, hushed secrets, and hierarchy) and creates a story that unashamedly reveals the very true fears of reality. Catherine eventually finetunes her ability to read people and situations by the end of the novel (which concludes with a happy wedding like almost every Austen novel), starkly contrasting her inability to distinguish sarcasm and subtext at the novel's inception. Austen also introduces a host of characters who possess different "reading" levels to reveal more about her main character and opinions on the value of novels as a genre. While this book does not possess the element of immense suspense that Catherine's beloved The Mysteries of Udolpho ​has, it brilliantly observes the tropes of its genre, spins them in an incredibly deliberate way, and says a lot more about a great deal of social issues than one could expect from a non-parodied work.


My favorite quote from Northanger Abbey:

"The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid."

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