Northanger Abbey
SOME QUICK BACKGROUND
Northanger Abbey was the first completed work by Jane Austen, written sometime between 1798-99, yet was not published until after her death in 1817. While the novel was sold to a publisher in 1803, the publisher chose not to release the novel, and Austen re-bought the rights, making some changes to the original manuscript before her death.
THE PLOT
Catherine Morland is ready to enter into the excitement of society and leave her small rural town, at least for a season. She is sure she is well prepared for this entrance, too, after reading scores of Gothic novels. Catherine is so enthralled with these novels, that she views life and the people around her in this lens.
As Catherine enters this new echelon of society, her imagination still continues to get away from her, especially as she is busy reading Ann Radcliffe’s Mysteries of Udolpho at the same time. Soon her naive and quick judgments catch up with her, though, and she must learn to reconcile the world she imagines from her novels and her imagination with the world around her.
GENRE, STYLE, AND THEMES
Austen employs many of the techniques of metafiction within the narrative. The novel becomes an affectionate parody of the gothic genre of novels, a sounding board for the writer, and a way of reflecting on the novel form. The commentary on the novel form is especially interesting here, since the novel itself was still, well, pretty novel. In fact, in parts of the novel Austen launches a direct defense of the novel as a worthwhile art, as opposed to frivolous, as some critics of her time insisted.
Some of the metafictional techniques Austen applies:
- Intertextuality: The novel, Mysteries of Udolpho, is not only heavily referenced within Austen’s work, but is an important figure within the novel itself, as it shapes Catherine’s worldview as she views the events in her life not from a rational stance, but from a stance learned from reading Radcliffe’s novel as well as other gothic works.
- Meta-reference: Austen, at one point, breaks completely away from the narrative in order to directly defend the novel as a worthwhile and exciting venture.
- Story within a story: Again, the inclusion of Mysteries of Udolpho more than applies, even if it is an actually existing piece of work and not just invented by Austen
- Unreliable narrator: While Catherine never directly lies to the audience, her point-of-view and perception are very biased by her own naivety and fantasies. It’s often easy for the audience to see when she is missing a key detail or misreading intentions, even if Catherine cannot.