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Stereotypes Of Women In Northanger Abbey By Jane Austen

550 Words3 Pages

Although both works break women's stereotypes by showing they are independent and assertive, they both break them in different ways. In Northanger Abbey, Austen uses the failure of a typical Gothic-style heroine who "... are often governesses and companions, or wives / working within the confines of a nurturing or motherly role..." (Guillard, 64) to break these stereotypes. Not only is Catherine a failure of fitting the typical Gothic novel heroine, but her father does as well. Many people have "... pursued by a feudal (patriarchal) father or his substitute" (Miles, 96) which is not the case in Northanger Abbey. Catherine's father is not bossy or pushy, he's the complete opposite of that. While Moll from The Roaring Girl doesn't succumb to marrying a man, the same …show more content…

When she does this and ends up straying away from her "masculinity", Catherine is shown to abide by the expectations that were applied to women for them to be considered "feminine". In addition, she realises that being so immersed in Gothic novels was so childish when she gets caught by Henry when she was sneaking into Mrs. Tilney's bedroom where she then runs away into her room embarrassed by herself and thinking there's no more hope left for her since she's "disappointed" Henry. In the end, both Henry and Catherine end up getting married and it's shown that although Catherine at first was tomboyish, she ends up surrendering to the expectations of being feminine and ends up getting married despite being against it at first. On the other hand, it is the complete opposite for Moll Cutpurse. Rather than being a failure of a typical Gothic heroine, she breaks these stereotypes by cross-dressing. In the eyes of Sir Alexander, Moll's cross-dressing is something that can be considered menacing and something out of the ordinary which goes against social

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