The Similarities Between Jane Austen And Catherine Moreland

Austen exposes the role of reading gothic novels on her heroine Catherine Moreland, and it is she who makes General Tinley the victim of our suspicion. Catherine suspects at every step that there is something mysterious both in Northanger Abbey and General Tinley, and he is involved in that – the death of his wife. But then, this is revealed to us that there is nothing like that and we have doubted Tinley for nothing. What we see is through the eyes of Catherine but, it is certainly Austen, here too, shapes and controls our opinion about General Tinley. When we become sure of his suspicious character to an extent that he may be involved in his wife’s death, Austen removes our misconceptions. In the novel, she doesn’t let us have a positive opinion about General Tinley. I wonder at this scheme, thinking if Austen has been doing it unintentionally, or

The effect of reading novels goes parallel with the development of Catherine’s character; she is much developed physically by the age of fifteen, but her mental development is a gradual process, which she achieves by the end of the novel. It happens when she herself resolves to be rational in her thoughts and actions. Is Austen purpose didactic and she, indirectly, teaches her readers that what to read and what not to read in order to be mature and rational. To be an avid reader is not bad, but the ultimate success is that we must learn to know that the art of knowing is not only knowing but knowing what to ignore. In this context, does Austen also intend to show that stability and happiness come after going through a process of learning from our own mistakes? Her heroines must learn how to have a balance in life and without this learning, she doesn’t allow them to have a happy married life. In this capacity, does not Northanger Abbey seem to convey the same message of S&S and