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Austen Video #3 and Northanger Abbey Questions

 First, watch this short video on the Gothic movement in English literature...


Then answer these questions for Northanger Abbey (answer 3 as usual):

Q1. A consistent theme in Austen’s novels is the entrance of a young woman into society.  However, such a rite of passage requires experienced chaperones to guide her on her way.  How does Austen satirize the idea of a young woman’s education—and in this case, into the social wilds of Bath?  What dangers or missteps does she encounter that were all too real for women in Austen’s time?  

Q2. Chapter 14 is a delightful discussion of books and taste, in which narrator readily admits that “It was no effort to Catherine to believe that Henry Tilney could never be wrong.  His manner might sometimes surprize, but his meaning must always be just.”  How are we supposed to read their budding romance in these chapters?  Is it truly a match of equals, or is Henry somewhat condescending towards her as a ‘weak’ woman?  Is it satiric, or romantic?

Q3. How does Catherine continue to mistake fiction with reality, and allow her aesthetic views to color her personal decisions and beliefs?  In other words, how does she expect life to ‘read’ like a novel, and how does Austen satirize (however lightly) her views in doing so?

Q4. In what way does Austen distinguish Henry Tilney from the other characters in Bath (Thrope, Mrs. Allen, Isabella, etc.)?  Is he, despite his sex, closer to the voice and wit of the narrator (who we assume to be Austen)?  How do we feel the narrator, herself, feels about him (besides the fact that he is only “very near” being handsome)? 

Q5. In Chapter 21, we encounter Austen’s spot-on imitation of a Gothic novel, complete with many of the hallmarks of the genre from works like The Castle of Otranto and The Mysteries of Udolpho.  How do we read this chapter in particular—as a parody or a legitimate attempt to conjure up a sense of horror for her readers?  Does the tone of a giggling narrator lie behind this, or is Austen allowing herself, audaciously, to write like a Mrs. Radcliffe? 

Q6. Do you think Austen is more critical toward the women in the book than the men?  Consider the portrait of Isabella that emerges in Chapter 18, when Isabella remarks, “A little harmless flirtation or so will occur, and one is often drawn on to give more encouragement than one wishes to stand by...What one means one day, you know, one might not mean the next.  Circumstances change, opinions alter.”   Why might Austen have more of a bone to pick with her own sex? 

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