Northanger Abbey is a novel by Jane Austen. It was published posthumously in 1817. The novel makes use of a satire on the prevailing society and mixes it with Gothic tales of terror. The main protagonist, Catherine Morland, is the daughter of a country parson, who gains worldly wisdom, first in the fashionable society of Bath and then at Northanger Abbey itself. In Abbey, she learns not to interpret the world through her reading of Gothic thrillers. Catherine’s view of the world is coloured by her love of Gothic stories until she learns the value of controlling her imagination. The story of the novel thus concerns Catherine and her journey to a better understanding of herself and of the world around her. In Northanger Abbey, the narrative has two sources of conflict: internal and external. The internal conflict arises due to Catherine’s own inability to distinguish fiction from reality. At the same time, the novel could also be considered Austen’s critique of the gender relations and social structures of late eighteenth and early nineteenth-century.
About the Author
A large number of critical essays and literary anthologies have been inspired by Austen’s novels. Her use of biting irony, along with her realism and social commentary, have earned her acclaim among critics and scholars. Much of Austen’s fame rests on the historical and literary significance that she was the first woman to write great comic novels. Her works have attracted legions of scholars.
