"Northanger Abbey" - A Book Review

The first mention in a novel of the All-American pastime, baseball, comes not from "The Old Farmer's Almanac" or some such publication; but rather from the novel, "Northanger Abbey", by the British author, Jane Austen. As the heroine of "Northanger Abbey", Catherine Morland, is described in her childhood in chapter one of the novel as preferring "cricket, baseball, riding on horseback, and running about the country . . ." to the domestic arts such as tending a garden and drawing. While Jane Austen penned "Northanger Abbey" between 1798 through 1803, the novel wasn't published until 1817, after Jane Austen had passed away.

Meant primarily as family entertainment, "Northanger Abbey" was written by Jane Austen as a satire of the gothic novels that were popular at the time. Novels which often featured a "damsel in distress" who was portrayed as both feeble and powerless, but somehow still able to represent a threat to the power of the patriarch in the novel. As such, the reader in "Northanger Abbey" is presented with Catherine Morland, who is actually a huge fan of the gothic novels, particularly "The Mysteries of Udolpho" by Ann Radcliffe. But, is exceedingly kind with an affectionate heart and a cheerful disposition and most unlikely to be the heroine of any novel, gothic or otherwise. However, Catherine Morland is very imaginative and curious in a harmless way. So when she is presented with the opportunity to visit Northanger Abbey, she immediately looks forward to exploring "Its long, damp passages, its narrow cells and ruined chapel, . . ." As well as hoping to encounter "some traditional legends, some awful memorials of an injured and ill-fated nun."

With the infatuation over Mr. Darcy of "Pride and Prejudice" on the part of many of the fans of Jane Austen's novels, sometimes the underlying social commentary included in Jane Austen's novels is overshadowed by the romantic storyline. Something which would be surprising to Jane Austen. As she considered herself to have written books of moral instruction. With some scholars even describing her books as "deeply serious morality plays underneath the veneer of romantic comedy." In fact, in "Northanger Abbey", much emphasis is placed on the fact that Henry Tilney appreciates Catherine Morland for "the excellencies of her character." As one of the virtues that Jane Austen champions in her writings is esteem.

A master of human psychology prior to the onset of Sigmund Freud and his psychoanalysis in the 1900s, Jane Austen exposes the shallowness and cruelty of those who act solely out of ulterior financial motives in her novels. With the primary example of such an ambitious and unprincipled fortune-hunter-in-disguise coming in the form of Isabella Thorpe in "Northanger Abbey". A young lady who instantly becomes Catherine Morland's best friend in the town of Bath, not out of any genuine sense of camaraderie and friendship with the morally conscious Catherine, but out of the hopes of becoming acquainted with Catherine's brother. An eligible bachelor whom Isabella mistakenly assumes has a significant fortune due to Catherine's friendship with the childless Allens. After Isabella Thorpe comes to realize the error of her assumption, she immediately distances herself from the ingénue Catherine and pursues the wealthier and somewhat vain, Captain Tilney.

When Isabella's own fortune hunting brother is rejected by Catherine, he seeks revenge by harming Catherine's standing on a social level by presenting her as being more impoverished than she really is to the society conscious General Tilney. A misrepresentation which results in the general turning Catherine Morland out of "Northanger Abbey" in a very abrupt fashion that was not befitting of the landed gentry of the regency era. Presenting readers with the theme of homelessness and displacement which is recurring throughout Jane Austen's novels. As Jane Austen, herself, along with her mother and sister were rendered homeless in Bath after her father passed away in 1805.

Considered the novel that shows Jane Austen's transition from her juvenilia, the writings and musings of her youth when she lived in Hampshire, to the author of six of the greatest novels in the English language; "Northanger Abbey" is a charming read that through Catherine Morland's inner nobility of heart makes the reader simply feel good while reading "Northanger Abbey". It is replete with some of Jane Austen's quotes that reveal her deep insight into human nature. Quotes that are still accurate today such as "To look almost pretty is an acquisition of higher delight to a girl who has been looking plain the first fifteen years of her life than a beauty from her cradle can ever receive." With another one of Jane Austen's famous quotes that is found in "Northanger Abbey" being " . . . if adventures will not befall a young lady in her own village, she must seek them abroad . . . "

Jane Austen's take on history that is found in "Northanger Abbey" also resonates as true even today when she describes history as " . . . nothing that does not either vex or weary me. The quarrels of popes and kings, with wars or pestilences, in every page; the men all so good for nothing, and hardly any women at all - it is very tiresome: and yet I often think it odd that it should be so dull, for a great deal of it must be invention. The speeches that are put into the heroes' mouths, their thoughts and designs - the chief of all this must be invention, and invention is what delights me in other books."

Jane Austen's insight into the male species is also of interest. As in "Northanger Abbey" Isabelle Thorpe exclaims "What can you have to do with hearts? You men have none of you any hearts." To which Captain Tilney responds with "If we have not hearts, we have eyes; and they give us torment enough."

December 16th of 2025 will mark 250 years since the birth of Jane Austen.

Luisa Reyes is an attorney in Tuscaloosa with a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Judson, a master's degree in library science, and a law degree from Samford's Cumberland School of Law. She is also a piano instructor and vocalist.