The ways women are presented in Northanger Abbey are through the characters of Catherine Morland, Isabella Thorpe, Eleanor Tilney, Mrs Allen, and the mothers of the Morland and Thorpe family, who are the main female characters within this novel. I will be seeing how they are presented through their personalities, character analysis, and the development of the character though out the novel. I will be finding and deciphering scenes, conversations and character description and backing up with quotes to show how Austen has presented women in her novel Northanger Abbey.
A way to see how women are presented in Northanger Abbey is too look through characters relationships with others. In this case I am choosing Henry Tilney and Catherine Morland.
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It has been evident from reading the novel before this conversation that Catherine has believed that Henry’s father killed his own wife. For example, when she discovers the doors, it says “To what might not those doors lead?”, “... lay the apartments of the unfortunate Mrs. Tilney, must be, as certainly...” (Austen, J. 2003. Northanger Abbey. Pp. 138-138) This quote shows the progression of Catherine discovering the doors, which is the first quote, to her being “certain” that Mrs. Tilney was murdered in there. The use of the word “certain” is used to mean 100% certain sure of what she, Catherine, is thinking. This quote shows that Catherine’s imagination gets the better of her in moments and she quickly jumps to conclusions rather than thinking of the logical reason to where the doors may lead. When Henry finds Catherine on the staircase, Catherine immediately questions why he too is on the stair case. Henry’s reply is “How came I up that staircase? He replied, greatly surprised. Because it is my nearest way from the stable-yard to my own chamber; and why should I not come up it?” (Austen, J. 2003. Northanger Abbey. Pp. 143-143) This quote shows that …show more content…
A great example of this is Mrs. Allen. Mrs. Allen is a stereotype of what women “should” be. In this case, materialistic, submissive, and a wife that dotes on her husband. This is shown when Mrs. Allen first enters Bath and has met her acquaintance, Mrs. Thorpe. The narrator observes that Mrs. Allen is never satisfied unless she is beside Mrs. Thorpe, and having a somewhat conversation that did not involve an “exchange of opinion” but only of discussing children and gowns. While at the ball, Henry Tilney is having a conversation with Catherine. Mrs. Allen then interrupts by mentioning that a pin has torn a whole in her dress. This then allows Henry to join in on this conversation and to use jargon and discuss how he buys his own cravats, and how he is an excellent judge as his sister has often trusted him before. After his reply, the narration says “Mrs. Allen was quite struck by his genius”. (Austen, J. 2003. Northanger Abbey. Pp. 16-16) Mrs. Allen’s vacancy of mind allows her to interact with the opposite sex by allowing men, such as Henry Tilney, because it allowed him to showcase his knowledge and to teach the naïve
Third to enter is Susanna Walcott who is a nervous rushed girl. When Susanna states “he cannot discover no medicine for it in his books” there is a feeling of depression but, also, a feeling of eager to find a cure for whatever is wrong with Betty. When Susanna suggest there may be unnatural causes Parris jumps at her stating there is nothing unnatural causing this to happen to Betty. As Susanna leaves Abigail and Parris both tell her no to speak of Betty in the village. When Abigail and Parris are alone, Abigail informs her uncle, Parris, that there is a rumor of witchcraft being out in the village.
In what is for Jane Austen an uncharacteristically direct intervention, the narrator of Northanger Abbey remarks near the end: "The anxiety, which in the state of their attachment must be the portion of Henry and Catherine, and of all who loved either, as to its final event, can hardly extend, I fear, to the bosom of my readers, who will see in the tell-tale compression of the pages before them, that we are all hastening together to perfect felicity."
Jane, Austen,. Emma complete, authoritative text with biographical, historical, and cultural contexts, critical history, and essays from contemporary critical perspectives. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2002.
The parallel of Anne's growth as a compassionate woman, to Austen's growth as a compassionate writer is felt immensely by the reader. To value virtue over vanity, cultural and class diversity over conformity is to be free from the narrow confines of the ignorant mind. This is ultimately Austen's powerful message.
Characters in Pride and Prejudice and The Rape of the Lock are necessary tools in establishing satire within the stories. Austen uses a range of different character types in order to highlight the absurdity of society. For example, Elizabeth Bennet differs greatly from her other sisters and young ladies of Hertfordshire because h...
Women in the time of Jane Austen dedicated their lives to being good-looking (seen in the vanity of Lydia and Kitty especially) and accomplished to ensure they were marriage material, just as the maiden tried to be enchanting and desirable for The Prince. Both texts illustrate an imbalance and struggle for equality within the oppressive rules and expectations that revolve around women’s lives, and so, their relationships.
The portrayal of men and women has varied in different stories throughout history. Many portray women as beautiful, deceptive, manipulative, and smart, while men are portrayed as being strong, masculine, and easily tricked. In many of the works covered in the course “Major British Writers to 1800,” men are advised to refrain from acting lustful, believed that it would harm their overall ability to succeed in whatever the characters aimed to do. An example of this is seen in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” when Gawain is deceived by Lady Bertilak in an effort to prove that Sir Gawain is imperfect. The depictions of men and women are very similar in Fantomina by Eliza Haywood, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Phyllis and Aristotle. . While each of these stories maintain a similar image on men and women, the means in which the deception is very different. Unlike these three stories however, Paradise Lost by John Milton does not depict women as being deceptive or manipulative, nor men as being easily tricked or deceived. John Milton’s depiction of men and women is portrayed very differently in comparison to Fantomina, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Phyllis and Aristotle.
Abbey are crucial for developing and maturing Catherine’s character. Bibliography Austen, Jane. [1818] 1990 Northanger Abbey, ed. by John Davie, with an introduction by Terry Castle, Oxford World’s Classics, Oxford: Oxford University Press Regan, Stephen. Ed. 2001.
Jane Austen Society of North America, Inc. A Brief Biography. jasna.org. 26 April. 2014.
...f society and the desire to marry into a higher class, she is able to expose her own feelings toward her society through her characters. Through Marianne and Elinor she displays a sense of knowing the rules of society, what is respectable and what is not, yet not always accepting them or abiding by them. Yet, she hints at the triviality and fakeness of the society in which she lived subtly and clearly through Willoughby, John Dashwood and Edward Ferrars. Austen expertly reveals many layers to the 19th century English society and the importance of having both sense and sensibility in such a shallow system.
She first begins with the introduction of Jane Austen’s life circumstances, how small amount of money she had with her mother and her sister and the better life circumstances of her five brother whilst they had got access to work that was paid, inheritance and preference and also the right for independence, personal power that is prosperous and masculinity.
Next, Because of the ridicule women receive for disobeying the social values of the time, the social values of most women was to ignore their emotions, and to focus more on the social status of men. Austen gives an example of this when Mrs. Bennet says, “If I can but see one of my daughters happily settled at Netherfield…and all the others equally well married, I shall have nothing to wish for.” (Austen
Jane Eyre had became the definition of self-discovery, finding freedom, expression, true love and emotion. Although it had became a journey for her to reach those things, she had to come across some influential and non influential characters in order to reach the pursuit of happiness. In each location speaking on Gateshead, Lowood, Thornfield and the Moor house ,Jane comes across a number of characters who had brought her to self discovery. The characters were Mrs. Reed, Miss Temple, Helen, Mr. Brocklehurst, St. John and John Eyre , Blanche and Mr. Mason.
Like Goodman and Harrop explain, women were often subordinate in nineteenth century England. In effort to show the ludicrousness of gender roles, Austen used her characters to dispel ideas like the want of a woman to be second, showing the subsidiary nature of women was not inbred in them, but forced upon women by society.
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre represents the role of women in the Victorian era by giving the reader an insight into the lives of women from all social classes. Jane Eyre therefore represents figures of the Victorian time yet the character of Jane Eyre, herself, can be seen as very unconventional for the Victorian society.