Northanger Abbey, a novel by Jane Austen

 

The bulk of Jane Austen’s novels were revised for publication a considerable time after they were first written, and it is often impossible to tell how much rewriting was involved in the revision.

‘Northanger Abbey’ was originally written in 1797 and 1798, finally being finished in 1803. It was only published posthumously in 1818 (along with ‘Persuasion’), and it was therefore the first complete novel to have been written despite the appearance of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and ‘Sense and Sensibility’ several years previously.

‘Northanger Abbey’ is the story of Catherine Morland, a somewhat ordinary girl, goodhearted and rather simple, who spends some weeks in Bath with friends of her family and makes various friends and acquaintances while there.

She meets Henry Tilney and his sister. Catherine falls in love with Henry and is invited to the Tilney’s family home under Henry’s father’s impression that she is a wealthy heiress who would make a good match for his son. The house – Northanger Abbey – is an old abbey building that Catherine expects to be just like the ancient ghost-ridden buildings that she has read about in the Gothic horror novels - particularly those of Ann Radcliffe – that were very popular at the time.

Things go wrong for Catherine when Henry’s father discovers that she is not a rich heiress after all and throws her out. However, everything works out all right eventually and the hero and heroine end up happily married.

The plot might sound dull enough, but the novel is far from dull, despite Jane Austen’s refusal to use any of the more violent contemporary novelistic devices in order to enliven it. The life of the novel comes from the combination of wit and profound sense of the meaning and interest of the events of daily life in the social world that Jane Austen knew so well.

Although the irony is somewhat cruder than that produced by Jane Austen in her later novels, it is always carefully poised and well directed. The tone is not burlesque or mock-heroic, and a note of affectionate understanding runs together with the irony.

It is noticeable that although Jane Austen pokes affectionate fun at Catherine’s ridiculous romantic expectations of a haunted house, this is only done to emphasise that real life can be every bit as interesting and enjoyable.

Catherine’s actual romance with Henry is not expressed in the passionate tones of later romantic novelists, but it is nonetheless sensitive and true.

One thing we can learn from this novel is that Jane Austen truly understood how young people come to fall in love, realising exactly the degree to which Nature imitates Art and the varying parts played by admiration, gratitude and vanity.

‘Northanger Abbey’ is rarely regarded as one of Jane Austen’s best novels, and it is only fully appreciated by those who have a basic knowledge of the Gothic horror tradition at which she pokes gentle fun, but it is certainly worth a read.

© John Welford

Emma, by Jane Austen: a summary of the plot

Emma, by Jane Austen (1775-1817), was published in December 1815 although the date on the original title page is 1816. It was therefore the last novel to be published in Austen’s lifetime, although Persuasion was written after she had completed the writing of Emma but was published after her death.

The story concerns Emma Woodhouse, who is introduced in the opening line as “handsome, clever and rich” and who “had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her”. The reader soon gathers that she believes herself to have a gift for understanding the needs and wishes of those around her, particularly in matters of the heart. As the novel proceeds she is brought to realise that she is deluded in this respect, and the shocks she suffers give her a greater degree of self-knowledge than she had previously possessed.

The events take place in and around the village of Highbury and concern the members of several families of varying fortunes. The Woodhouses are well-to-do, although Emma’s father is an elderly hypochondriac and she lost her mother when a child. Her elder sister is married to Mr John Knightley, whose brother George, owner of the local estate, takes a fatherly interest in Emma’s welfare, being 17 years older than her.

Emma believes that she has been responsible for engineering the marriage of her governess to a local widower, Mr Weston. She then takes it upon herself to do the same for her socially inferior friend Harriet Smith, believing that the perfect match will be the vicar, Mr Elton. She therefore persuades Harriet to break her attachment to the highly suitable Robert Martin, a farmer. Things go wrong when the vain and foolish Mr Elton thinks that Emma is matchmaking on her own behalf and proposes to her, to her disgust and annoyance.

Emma’s second attempt on Harriet’s behalf involves Frank Churchill, who is Mr Weston’s son but who was brought up by an aunt and uncle whose name he took. A comedy of errors ensues when Harriet misunderstands Emma’s hints and assumes that she is talking about Mr Knightley as the intended target. When Harriet duly falls for Mr Knightley, Emma begins to realise that she has feelings for him herself. At the same time, Mr Knightley begins to imagine that Emma is falling in love with Frank.

Emma’s next “victim” is Jane Fairfax, a young woman without a fortune who faces a future as a governess unless she can make a good marriage. Jane is staying with her aunt, Miss Bates, who is a gossipy middle-aged lady who rarely stops talking. Miss Bates is extremely proud of Jane, who is beautiful, intelligent, and a talented pianist and singer. Emma’s attitude towards Jane is tinged with more than a hint of jealousy.

Emma persuades herself that Jane is in love with a Mr Dixon, who is currently in Ireland. She has very little evidence for this fact, but that does not stop her from joking about it with Frank Churchill, and the two have a lot of knowing fun at Jane’s expense, although Emma clearly has no right to take such a line. Mr Knightley upbraids Emma for her attitude, and attempts to warn her that all may not be as it appears in terms of Jane’s private life, but Emma will have none of it.

Emma completely oversteps the mark at a picnic at which many of the villagers are present, when she insults Miss Bates in front of everyone. She is taken to task by Mr Knightley and suddenly realises that her behaviour has not been appropriate.

When news arrives that Frank Churchill’s aunt has died, Mr Knightley’s suspicions are confirmed, as Frank now announces that he is free to marry at last, and that his intended is Jane to whom he has been secretly engaged all along. Far from Emma and Frank being co-conspirators in the long-running joke against Jane, Emma has been Frank’s dupe. Her self-appointed status as the village’s matchmaker and fount of all knowledge regarding everyone’s romantic attachments is shown to be groundless.

The next shock to hit Emma is the realisation that Mr Knightley’s affections are not directed towards Harriet, as she had assumed, but herself. Now that Emma has been “dethroned” and come to her senses, Mr Knightley is able to declare his love for her, and she accepts his marriage proposal. Meanwhile Harriet’s former lover Robert Martin re-appears and proposes to Harriet. A double wedding concludes the story.

The novel illustrates very cleverly the importance of not seeking to control the lives of other people or to believe that one knows their innermost thoughts and desires better than they do themselves. “Emma” contrasts a variety of forms of selfishness and generosity against each other, portrayed most clearly through the characters of Emma and Mr Knightley respectively. Jane Austen makes the point in “Emma” that the most generous thing one can do when dealing with other people is to accept them for what they are, which is a lesson that Emma Woodhouse learns the hard way.

© John Welford