Throughout history, heroes/heroines have been stereotyped to look, behave and have certain backgrounds. Typically a hero is described as somebody who is strong in appearance, and usually an overachiever. However, in the novel, Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, Catherine Morland is depicted as a weak and unintelligent person that turns out to be a heroine. In order to make these descriptions, Jane Austen uses literary elements such as tone, imagery and the technique of describing others in order to describe the main character. Jane Austen makes use of describing Catherine Morland’s parents in order to describe Catherine herself. One way in which she did this was when she stated, “Her father was a clergyman, without being neglected or poor, and a very respectable man” (lines 5-7). By saying this, Jane …show more content…
One example of imagery is when Austen states that Catherine “had a thin awkward figure, a sallow skin without colour, dark lank hair, and strong features” (lines 24-26). This means that Catherine Morland did not seem to be strong enough in order to be a heroine, she did not have what it physically took to be a hero. Other examples of imagery that Austen used to characterize Catherine Morland were, “She never could learn or understand anything before she was taught, and sometimes not even then, for she was often inattentive, and occasionally stupid.” ( lines 36-39) and “she did what she could in that way by drawing houses and trees, hens and chickens, all very much like one another” (lines 57-59). In these examples it is shown how Austen describes Catherine Morland as unintelligent and very untalented, she can not learn fast even if she was taught and she did not have the talent it took to draw. This description of Catherine Morland shows that she is not an overachiever like typical heroines and that she doesn't have what it takes to be a
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.
In order to discuss the literature of the uncanny we must first be able to define "uncanny", and trying to grasp a firm understanding of the term "uncanny" is problematic; since as accepted reference works such as the Oxford English Dictionary filter down into popular culture the meaning subtly alters, or becomes drawn towards only one aspect of what was originally a much broader definition. To illustrate this, the Oxford Complete Wordfinder, Reader's Digest (1999), defines: "uncanny adj. seemingly supernatural; mysterious * see EERIE" and my word-processor contributes:
... that she came from a wealthy family of consequence. However, when the General bumps into John during Catherine’s visit at Northanger Abbey, John amends his story. Bitter that Catherine had fallen in love with Henry and rejected him, he changes his entire story and tells the General she only from a middle class family.
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen expresses the powerful narrative voice. The narrative voice that she uses is different from other novels. Most authors try to hide their presence in their novels but Jane Austen does not try to hide her presence. Her presence in the novel is so clear. For example, “The advantages of natural folly in a beautiful girl have been already set forth by the capital pen of sister author, and her treatment of the subject I will only add” (Austen 81). She tries not to trick her reader as he/she reads the novel. Instead she informs the reader that the book itself is just a novel. Her purpose is not to convince the reader and correct her story, but to understand the imperfection of language because language does not always tell the truth or enough for the truth.
A good example of imagery can be found at the end of the story in the last paragraph. For this part of imagery, the main character Jackson Jackson has received his grandmother’s regalia from the pawn shop employee without having to pay the total of $999 he originally had to pay. (Alexie) “I took my grandmother’s regalia and walked outside. I knew that solitary yellow bead was part of me.
Austen sarcastically mentions the “importance” of the Gothic heroine’s innocence by referring to it as ignorance: “To come with a well-informed mind, is to come with an inability of administering to the vanity of others, which a sensible person would always wish to avoid. A woman especially, if she have the misfortune of knowing any thing, should conceal it as well as she can” (81). Catherine is ashamed of her ignorance of important talents that women were expected to appreciate at the time. Moreover, and even more importantly, she is naïve to the misleadings of Isabella, mistaking her to be a good friend, when in reality, she was only using Catherine for her own gain (Austen 107-108). Catherine insists on maintaining Isabella’s innocence, truth, and good intentions until it is absolutely impossible to do so in light of her brother’s word.
In Northanger Abbey, Austen intended to reflect a contrast between a normal, healthy-natured girl and the romantic heroines of fiction thorough the use of characterization. By portraying the main character, Catherine Moorland, as a girl slightly affected with romantic notions, Jane Austen exhibits the co...
Even though today Jane Austen is regarded for her writing, during her time she couldn’t even publish her work under her own name, because it was considered unladylike for women to be intellectual figures. Unlike J. K. Rowling and other English female writers today, who are well known for their works even without using their full names, Jane Austen lived within the sanctuary of a close-knit family and always published her works under a pseudonym that could not be traced back to her (jasna.org). Writing at the time was a male-dominated profession and women depended completely on men for their livelihood. During her upbringing she knew the importance of money to women in a severely classist and patriarchal society, and so marriage was the answer to the survival of women during this time (Helms 32). Even knowing these qualities were important in her life she criticized them.
In the book Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen decided to make Elizabeth Bennet the central character. Elizabeth is the second eldest of the Bennet sisters and from the very beginning of the book; we can sense that the whole plot in the story is based around her. Therefore, we can suggest that there are many reasons to think that Elizabeth is the heroine in Pride and Prejudice. However, I believe that before arguing on this idea, we must define the concept of heroine. When we talk about the heroine of a story, we usually expect a woman who is brave, courageous, trustworthy and has many other positive qualities, depending on what she does. This makes the reader like the heroine more than any other character in the story. However, the question is if Elizabeth fits into this general frame for heroines.
The theme of social status and society is prevalent in the novel of Emma, through the characters Emma, Mr. Knightley, Mr. Churchill, and their situations and perspectives on life. Austen describes Emma as, “handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her” makes her outlook disparate from characters such as Harriet (Austen, Emma 3). Immediately through her description, Austen indicates Emma’s haughty perspective on society through her referencing her friends as “first set” and “second set.” Through Emma’s classification of her friends by their social status and importance, first set being the superior and second set being the inferior and locum, the reader is able to have a glimpse of Emma’s outlook on society and it’s classes. (Knowledge Notes). Emma once again portrays the theme of social status and society through her views of people in lower classes than she such as Harriet and Mr. Martin. After Emma meets Harriet for the first time, she immediately decides that Harriet’s “soft blue eyes, and all those natural graces, should not be wasted on the inferior society of Highbury, and its connections” (Austen, Emma 20). Because of the social class difference between her and Mr. Martin, Emma regards him as someone who is inferior and advises Harriet to refuse his proposal. She claims that though “his appearance was very neat, and he looked like a sensible young man, but his person had no other advantage; and when he came to be contrasted with a gentleman, she thought he must lose all the ground…” (Austen, Emma 27) and that Harriet deserves someone more advantageo...
To be a mentor is to hold influence over a person’s actions or education. Overall, “Emma” is a novel about the influence that people hold over each other, and how that influence can affect people. Conflict is built by different characters who view themselves as mentors struggling to assert their opinions over others and pupil characters who accept their mentor’s opinions without bothering to form their own.
Just as Marianne must experience a considerable amount of maturity, so too must Catherine Morland of Northanger Abbey (1818) when she is first meet by readers. Unlike the characters of Elizabeth and Elinor, who are known for their cleverness and good sense, Catherine’s: “mind [is] about as ignorant and uniformed as the female mind at seventeen usually is” . Despite her immaturity Catherine has an affectionate heart “disposition cheerful and open, without conceit or affection of any kind – her manners just removed from the awkwardness and shyness of a girl; her persona pleasing, and, when in good looks, pretty” . In the development of both her protagonist and plotline, Austen parodies the popular Gothic novel of the day by calling Catherine a “heroine” in the very first sentence of the book: “No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy, would have supposed her born to be an heroine” . Austen is of course using irony, as she is comically referring to the usual heroine portrayed in such novels, beautiful damsels in distress who are waiting to be rescued by a handsome man. Catherine is not one of these heroines; she is simply an ordinary girl waiting for something to happen. Before she is able to discover her hero she must learn how to assess the character of others, and learn how to understand herself before she can claim the title of “heroine”.
The Gothic novel, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë can be depicted as a novel that lacks a hero. Heathcliff, the protagonist of the novel, lacks many characteristics of a traditional hero; therefore, causes him to reflect the definition of a villain in a work of literature. Wuthering Heights illustrates that a predictable hero is not presented and that Heathcliff is the antithesis of a hero in the novel. Heathcliff is characterized as a vengeful character, who becomes destroyed and corrupted due to his rejection from Catherine, his overwhelming jealousy, and his mistreatment as a child by Hindley. He is a cynical character and due to his cruel and wicked attitude that grows throughout the novel, he grows to be a villain.
Jane Austen's writing style is a mix of neoclassicism and romanticism. Austen created a transition into Romanticism which encourages passion and imagination in writing instead of a strict and stale writing style. It is very emotional and follows a flowing not structured form. Mixing these two styles was one of Austen's strongest talents, which gave her an edge in the literary world. No other author in her time was able to create such a strong transition between writing styles. Austen used her sharp and sarcastic wit in all of her writing including in one of her most famous works; Pride and Prejudice. She could create a powerful and dramatic scene and immediately lead it into a satirical cathartic scene. We see these in various locations in Pride and Prejudice. She was able to use her experiences as well as her intense knowledge to create meaningful insights into her words, regardless of what topic she would be discussing. She often talks about marriage, or breaking the roles of what a person should be. She made controversial works that praised imperfections which praised the...
Literary Analysis of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen The novel Pride and Prejudice, is a romantic comedy, by Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice is a story about an unlikely pair who go through many obstacles before finally coming together. Pride is the opinion of oneself, and prejudice is how one person feels others perceive them. The novel, Pride and Prejudice, uses plot, the characters of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy and Miss Elizabeth Bennet, and the status of women and social standing, to portray the theme of the novel - pride and prejudice.