The Social Norms Of Women In Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey
In Jane Austen’s novel, Northanger Abbey, she explores the societal norms of women in the late 1700s through the protagonist, Catherine Morland. She takes an alternate route in dissecting how women of different social classes and upbringings acted by following the middle class sheltered schoolgirl as opposed to a wealthy upper class woman. Catherine has little to no real life experience. Austen shows the innocence of Catherine and how oblivious she is to the real world through conversations where she does not pick up on the underlying meanings, the depiction of her wild imagination, and specifically through the interaction between her and John Thorpe in the middle of chapter 9. The first way Jane Austen conveys the innocence of Catherine is …show more content…
There are many times throughout the novel where Catherine’s imagination gets the best of her and she must explore some silly fantasy. When she first arrives at Henry Tilney’s home, Northanger Abbey, she immediately wants to explore as if she were a little kid at Disney World. Her room has a mysterious chest that she tells herself she must get open because it has to contain some dark secrets inside. However, it only held a cloth and a few grocery lists inside. This scene is a perfect description of how her young 17 year old mind got the best of her. It shows how foolish she is to believe that one of the many Gothic novels she reads would actually come to life in the Tilney’s house. Her wild thoughts become so strong that she begins to question if General Tilney murdered his own wife. Catherine says that General Tileny “certainly had been an unkind husband” and that “he must have been dreadfully cruel to her” (181). Anyone else would be crazy to have these suspicions of the General, but Catherine wants to satisfy her imagination by creating a Gothic novel story line during her stay at the Abbey. Just because he is not the nicest man does not mean he would commit murder to the woman he loved. This again shows her childish tendencies in real world situations and makes it obvious to the reader that her fantasies are not practical and would never come
Observant As Depicted In The Book Rules By Cynthia Lord
473 Words | 2 PagesAs it says on page 17, “— I consider the line of stores and restaurants across the street, but they look tired and ‘between’. In a week or two, the gift shop window will have splashy beach towels and plastic sand buckets, the hotel will show off the ‘no’ lit up with the ‘vacancy’ and the—” This shows how when looking around, Catherine takes everything in around her. It also shows her being wishful in another way. Another quote that shows a similar idea was on page nineteen, “Drawing makes me find the curves, the shadows, the ins and outs, and the beautiful parts.” This, like the quote before, also shows how much Catherine notices.
Catherine Mingott Rhetorical Analysis
1085 Words | 5 PagesThe lowness of the bed is due to not only her physique, but could indicate how grounded to reality she is rather than the rest of New York Society, who have their heads in the clouds. Even at a time like sleeping, which gives people the chance to fly as high as they like into their own fantasies, she remains close to the ground. It can be assumed, in her her pursuit to avoid becoming like the multitude and losing her grip on reality. It can also be due to the heavy burdens of her past that she carries on her shoulders that prevent her from taking part. This sets her apart from others and depicts the inner independence of Catherine that makes up a part of her extravagant
Heartless Jester Quotes
438 Words | 2 PagesIn the beginning of the book, it shows that Catherine wished to be the royal baker and have a calm, simple life. In the book it states “All I want is to be the royal baker and not some stupid queen who has to take care of everything.” (Meyer 14) This quote shows how she does not want to marry the king and become queen. She wants a normal life as a royal baker that’s married to the jester.
Selfish Ambition In John Steinbeck's East Of Eden
791 Words | 4 PagesPatience becomes one important attribute that Catherine has to master during this part of her life. Catherine encounters a man named Mr. Edwards and tricks him by acting in the guise of a sweet, innocent woman. The gullible man suspects nothing unpleasant out of Catherine henceforth. Then she seduces Mr. Edwards into acquiescing a house where she can temporarily reside. It appears Catherine begins to wisely think further ahead in her life as she grows older, for the actions she takes affects her ability to reach the life she desires.
Eternal Recurrence In 'I Heart Huckabees'
1107 Words | 5 PagesHer goal was to show, no matter what, there will be occasion of which will bring them back into human drama. Also, Albert Camus explains how to generate a meaning form a finite existence. During the movie, Catherine keeps mentioning that we have to choose things that make us happy, of which is similar to Albert Camus trying to explain that, in the myth of Sisyphus, if he had chosen the boulder and been ok with the punishment he was given, he would’ve been happy. Throughout the movie Catherine continuously explains that we must chose things to truly be happy. Towards the end, the myth comes back around.
Conformity In Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice
1252 Words | 6 PagesHow would it feel to forego all sense of conformity within a society to have relationship with a loved one? Has it ever come to mind that one could project their feelings towards another as disgust, only later to reveal them as love? In Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice, she portrays Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy to experience this exact struggle; Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy both find a way to challenge specific reputations they are expected to uphold among their social classes, so they can ultimately be with each other. Throughout the novel Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen draws a connection among the frequent aspects of prejudice, social order, and reputation to enhance the progressive love between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy.
Catherine Called Birdy Character Analysis
1152 Words | 5 PagesHer account is also pretty selfish, as she thinks of no one but herself. However, by the second quote, it is obvious that Catherine has changed. She compares herself to the Jews that stopped by her manor, meaning that she is also thinking of others. By the end of Catherine’s narration of her year, she has grown more thoughtful,
Rejection Of Imposed Gendered Subordination In Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey
1114 Words | 5 PagesCatherine begins to become interested in the sudden death of Henry Tilney’s mother and starts to think that her death wasn’t accidental. Her curiosity leads her to go snoop around in her chambers. While she is there, she is caught by Henry Tilney and because of her disobedience, she is struck with guilt and shame, “the absurdity of her curiosity and her fears, could they ever be forgotten? She hated herself more than she could express” (Austen 146). Throughout the novel, her subtle but important acts of rebellion against the patriarchal society of 18th century England filled her with empowerment and hope for a future that she wanted.
Analysis Of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey
1098 Words | 5 PagesJane Austen’s Northanger Abbey is a Bildungsroman, a coming of age story that focuses on the psychological development of the protagonist, Catherine Morland. This essay will analyse the language and narrative techniques of the extract, and discuss how it suggests vicissitudes in Catherine’s personal perspectives and relationships. In addition, it will discuss the ‘domestic gothic’ and abuse ubiquitous in ordinary situations. Furthermore, it will argue how Austen’s rhetorical techniques work to encourage reader interest as well as exercising perception when distinguishing between appearance and reality. Finally, it will conclude by briefly discussing the significance of the extract within the novel’s wider themes.
Analysis Of Karen Cushman's Catherine, Called Birdy
1239 Words | 5 PagesWhile she was there, the old Jewish woman’s words finally gained some meaning. She realized that she didn’t have to be at her home to be herself, she would always be Catherine. This made Catherine more mature, she changed by knowing that she was, and would always be, herself. She says, “I am like the Jews in our hall, driven from England, from one life to another, and yet for them exile was no exile.” (Cushman 202).
Gender Roles In Jane Austen's Sense And Sensibility
1277 Words | 6 PagesJane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility is a great example of her works that looks at the role of women in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Austen shows us the gender roles inflicted on women during this time period and how they are perceived. We see the strict gender roles that women were adhered to and the struggle for identity as a woman. Central to this novel is the vulnerability of women and the expectations surrounding gender influence everything and produce define results. Gender definitely determines and structures the world in which these characters live.
Theme Of Self Alienation In Wuthering Heights And Frankenstein
2102 Words | 9 PagesAt the beginning of the novel, Catherine is described as a wild and rebellious child. However, that changes after her stay with the Linton’s. When she returns from her stay her “manners were much improved,” and “instead of a wild, hatless little savage jumping into the house…there lighted from a handsome black pony a very dignified person, with brown ringlets falling from the cover of a feathered beaver, and a long cloth habit which she was obliged to hold up with both hands that she might sail in” (46). Catherine was tempted by the way of life the Linton’s lived and, to fit in, has concealed her wild and rebellious nature. She confides in her housekeeper that she loves Heathcliff, but can’t marry him because it would “degrade” her (71).
Social Status Between Men And Women In Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice
2801 Words | 12 PagesJane Austen lived in a period at the turn from the eighteenth century to the nineteenth century, which was a period of mixed thoughts, which conflicted all the times. Among all the conflicts, the most important one was the disparity in social status between men and women. Not only men’s status was in the center of the society but also common people thought it was right that men were much more important than women were. In those days girls were neither allowed nor expected to study much because they did not have to work for a living. They were supposed to stay at home and look beautiful in order to get suitable husbands.
Comparison In Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell To Arms
1857 Words | 8 Pages“We see Ferguson and Barkley in conventionally romantic settings. On the three occasions when Frederic Henry interrupts the two women, they have been sitting alone in the pleasant places where the main, heterosexual relationship will flourish.” (Mandel) Although this is an interesting reading of the character it is not one that I believe to be true. The reader is not given much of an insight into Catherine’s life since the story is told from Henry’s point of view.
Catherine Barkley Character Analysis
918 Words | 4 PagesShe is an English nurse who fell in love with Frederic Henry. She is exceptionally beautiful. At the beginning of the novel Catherine`s grief for her dead fiance changed her thoughts about war. When she meets Frederic Henry she gives herself freely to him. During the novel, we get to know that Catherine is very afraid of the rain, but why?
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