Three Main Environments of Northanger Abbey

901 Words2 Pages

There are three main environments in which the novel, Northanger

Abbey, is set.

The initial location is Fullerton and it is from here Catherine begins

her journey. This is also the place to which Catherine returns at the

end of the narrative. By the very fact that Fullerton is located at

the start and the end of Catherine's journey, it can be used as a

comparison with the other locations in the novel.

Catherine wants to leave Fullerton, as it is not exciting enough and

certainly not as glamorous a place as the second location, Bath.

Indeed, the Allens, who own the majority of the land in Fullerton, are

happy to spend much of the year socialising in Bath. Mrs Allen takes

Catherine to Bath because "adventures do not befall a young lady in

her own village". Although Catherine has a strong desire for adventure

and may exaggerate the "sleepiness" of Fullerton, it does seem to be a

quiet and sedate place. There is little opportunity for her to meet

new people of her own age and social class and it appears that nothing

of any note ever happens.

Fullerton, does however, have positive attributes. It is the home of

Catherine's family, who are a stable and supportive unit. The people

of Fullerton are more genuine than in Bath as the permanent residences

require them to be sincere and eradicate the opportunity for the kind

of trickery Catherine encounters from Isabella Thorpe in Bath.

The second focal environment is Bath. The comparison with Fullerton

highlights the fact that Bath is an exciting place, a place filled

with visitors, rather than residents. This creates an air of

falseness, which is ironic as Bath is the genuine geographical

location, as opposed to Fullerton, which is fictional. Bath is a place
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... adventure. Bath is the place of fun and amusement, but also a place of

deception and dishonesty. It is the place where Catherine learns about

the harsher aspects of life through Isabella's trickery and

superficiality. In Northanger, once she is put right about her

fictitious imagined mystery regarding Mrs Tilney, Catherine finds

friendship in this solid and comfortable environment. It is also the

place where she learns of Isabella's deceit and this emphasises the

positive and truthful aspects of Northanger.

On returning to Fullerton, Catherine finds warmth and comfort in her

family after the hurt caused from the past deception. Fullerton

becomes a more exciting place with arrival of Henry and his proposal

of marriage.

Thus Austen uses the 3 principle locations to highlight ideals and

underline the transitions throughout the novel in Catherine's life.

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