Growth In Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey

Improved Essays
‘How does Catherine mature over the course of the novel?’

The novel Northanger Abbey – written by Jane Austen in 1817 – tells the story of a young woman who travels to Bath with her wealthy neighbours, and how she grows and matures into adulthood over the course of the book by taking responsibility for her many mistakes and actions.

Predominantly, this essay is a tale of one girl’s maturity into a young adult. She makes very many mistakes along the path to growing up, however, she does show great responsibility by the end of the novel, so much as to win the heart of the man she loves.
For example, the opening line of the novel states that ‘No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy, would have supposed her to be born a heroine.’ This shows that as a child, Catherine didn’t possess qualities typically associated
…show more content…
Her apologies to Eleanor and her burning of the gothic novels that had led her so far astray, ultimately show how much she matures over the course of the book. For example, after returning from Northanger Abbey, Catherine’s change in manner is noticed by her family members, so much that even Catherine’s mother remarks ‘my dear Catherine, you were always a sad little scatter-brained creature,’ as opposed to the mature adult she is now.
Austen has presented Catherine maturely at the end of the novel to convey how her experiences, as well as her actions and consequences over the past weeks have matured her. This shows that Catherine has grown during her time in Bath and Northanger Abbey, and that she has learnt to think passed the influences of others so she can make her own informed decisions for

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    Major Works Data Sheet: Do not cut/paste from a website, which is a form of plagiarism. Thoroughly complete each section of this. The more information you input, the better. Title: Emma Biographical information about the author:…

    • 1900 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The hectic and chaotic environments in which Jane Austen’s novels revolved around are believed not to be complete fiction, and are most likely accurate depictions of her true family and social environment. Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775 to her parents, Reverend Mr. George Austen and Cassandra Austin, in Hampshire, England. After just turning a few months old, Jane, like all of her siblings, were sent away for a few months to a wet nurse until the mother, Cassandra, had regained her ultimate strength. Although many practices of the Austen family, dealing with the birth of a child, were seemingly obsolete for the time, George and Cassandra continued to perpetuate their traditions and cycles they had enacted for their eight children. Jane Austen had seven siblings, with her being the seventh born of all eight children.…

    • 656 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    What I Saw Theme

    • 450 Words
    • 2 Pages

    When recognizing the power struggle between a mother and daughter during adolescent years, readers are able to gain a deeper understanding into the theme of coming of age, and the role it plays in Judy Blundell’s What I Saw and How I Lied. Evie and her mom Bev have been close their whole lives. The loss of Evie’s father forced them to live alone, inevitably, making them rely on each other. Now, Bev has remarried to Joe, a soldier who fought in WWII, and Evie is just beginning her teenage years.…

    • 450 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Jane Austen was not known for her interesting or memorable life. Many label her life as “uneventful” or “dull.” The stories she creates in her novels seem as if they couldn’t be any more different from her own life. Jane Austen’s novels are exciting and full of romance and adventure. Jane Austen never married, but she did yearn for a husband, someone for her to love.…

    • 1760 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Jane Eyre's Coming Of Age

    • 101 Words
    • 1 Pages

    An integral aspect in coming of age is to have one’s beliefs undergo the trials tribulations of this world. Religion establishes a set of morals that often serve as a guide throughout life and when those morals comes into conflict it culminates the transition from childhood to adulthood. In many ways Jane Eyre and A Portrait of The Artist as a Young Man depict the conflict that the protagonists’ have when their morals come into question by either external or internal conflicts. In addition, religious notation of sin and temptation try the characters, eventually leading to their maturity as young adults.…

    • 101 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    The time between innocence and experience is often marked by a series of changes that one must go through. Making this evolution as a female in the 1770’s was exceptionally demanding. Women tried to understand the world around them while fitting into subordinate positions to become proper members of society. This is true for Catherine, the young Cathy, and Isabella. Despite the difficulties that come with living in Wuthering Heights, they must learn to make this shift.…

    • 1386 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Letters To Alice Analysis

    • 718 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Fay Weldon's 1984 epistolary novel, Letters to Alice on First Reading Jane Austen 1984, has a striking resemblance to Jane Austen's, Pride and Prejudice 1813, in terms of the contexts of Regency England and the contemporary society to emphasise the ever-changing nature of values. Over a 150 years later, audiences can still identify Austen's portrayal of moral challenges regarding the value of education and the importance of self-determination. Weldon has appropriated in a mono-context through the portrayal of Alice, who like Austen's Elizabeth Bennett is in control of her own destiny. Education is a central theme of both texts with Austen and Weldon challenging their audiences to reject conventional methods of knowing and pursue an education…

    • 718 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    It shows how a mother search for a protection for theirs daughters. The need and the ultimate goal for a women who is not looking for fairy tales and wants the secure and home to avoid the entailment. Another obstacle is the social class and the importance of class and reputation in the eyes of the society. The story not only revolves around Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet, but also minor characters that represent the issue of the England of 19th century. Austen’s work was part of her feminism act, to make women aware about the limit power of the women in England.…

    • 1787 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Jane Austen’s novel, Northanger Abbey, Henry Tilney takes amusement in Catherine Morland’s wide-eyed, easily awed, and often simple nature, which allows him to pridefully exert his witty, biting words over her. Henry maintains a condescending and witty attitude towards women when speaking to Catherine, continuing to poke fun at the “silly” nature of their behavior compared to his. He expresses himself sharply and often imperiously around both Catherine and his sister, with Catherine not being able to understand him and Eleanor deeming him as a “brute” when it comes to women. When Eleanor requests Henry to make things clear to Catherine and portray himself as more “handsome” and “understanding”, Henry jibes, “Miss Morland, no one can think…

    • 1049 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Jane Austen is known for being a writer of women, and romance, but she is a major influence of gender stereotypes after her time. In many of her works, Austen would flout at how femininity and masculinity were ruled by societal standards. Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey follows suit with this concept, by depicting her characters as what was expected of their gender to what was abhorred in upper-middle class and high society. The second to the youngest of eight children, Jane Austen was born on the seventeenth of December in 1775.…

    • 2031 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    The novel falls in the category of romantic and sentimental novels. In the first three chapters of the novel, the mastery of Jane Austen ensures that every situation and incident of the story contains subtle satire and irony. The author employs a transparent style and reveals the personalities of the characters through the use of direct speech. In the first three chapters, Jane Austen maintains an adequate distinction between the narrative and conversational tone of the novel. She illustrates unique artistic quality and presents her characters truthfully.…

    • 1181 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Even though in Austen’s day she was not as well recognized, it would so happen to be that her strong female characters have not only been able to withstand the test of time but also has managed to integrate into a part of our culture presently. Austen’s novels are discussed in classrooms to even…

    • 1053 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey, Catherine Morland, the protagonist is a young naïve girl who is not a very good judge of character. She falls in love with a man much older than her, named Henry Tilney. Henry enjoys Catherine’s ignorance and educating her of things she doesn’t know. This essay will examine a passage from volume two, chapter nine wherein Henry finds out Catherine has been accusing his father of murdering his mother. Through the use of satirical tone, the implementation of odd statements, and by a specific structure, Austen displays Henry Tilney’s desire to patronize and educate Catherine and therefore, control their relationship throughout the novel.…

    • 995 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jane Austen 's novels usually focus around women’s social status. The time period in which she lived was about change. Thus, it is no surprise that she used her talent as a writer to highlight social issues. Jane Austen released Pride and Prejudice in 1813. The novel’s protagonist is Miss Elizabeth Bennet.…

    • 1586 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    English literature is very diverse but one of the most important parts of it is the English novel. The English novel was born in the first half of the 18th century with a fictional vibe. Then at the beginning of the 19th century, “it is with Jane Austen that the novel takes on its distinctive modern character in the realistic treatment of unremarkable people in the unremarkable situations of everyday life”, (Southam). Austen is considered one of the best writers in all history. She wrote a bunch of novels such as: Pride & Prejudice which is one of the first romantic comedies in the history of the novel, Sense and Sensibility, Emma, Persuasion, among others.…

    • 1370 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays