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The Plots Of Deception In Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey

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The notion that a young woman must be either engaged or pursuing an engagement was a common standard for women in the 19th century. Women looking for an engagement, must uphold high standards with strong morals as well as being wholly pure of both body and mind. Jane Austen depicts the main characters of her novels as being strong individuals in the midst of these societal standards. These significant morals in Northanger Abbey, influence the characters, such as Catherine and Isabella, in how they make their decisions. Additionally, the main character Catherine Morland, a young lady, learns the ways of presenting herself in the best light possible. Plots of deception from Isabella, to assumptions made by General Tilney, establishes the wavering relationships amongst the …show more content…

and Miss Tilney develop with good intentions, yet her immaturity change the dynamics to become more of a doting relationship. In both instances when Catherine meets the Tilneys for the first time, she is polite and conversational, but Catherine also “was desirous of being acquainted with [Miss Tilney]” (Austen 50). In Catherine’s meeting of the Tilneys, she possesses an element of her immaturity, as her emotions and attention scatter back and forth between the Tilneys and the Thorpes. Her attachments to both women, Isabella Thorpe and Miss Tilney, display Catherine’s childlike admiration and naive adoration. In the argument of the argument of Waldo Glock, he refers Catherine to have an “impressionable mind occasionally interpret[ing] scenes at Bath in the light of her reading of Gothic romance" (Glock 33). Her books influence her character and actions, as she makes decisions based on what she has read in her gothic novels. Like a child, her stories influence her day to day experiences which establish her immaturity, in looking for role models to mirror her life

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This is a form of irony, meaning that what the readers see does not actually correlate to what will happen later in the book. Even from the beginning, Austen says that “her situation in life, the character of her father and mother, her own person and disposition, were all equally against her.” Physically, Catherine does not seem attractive, with her “sallow skin, dark lank hair, and strong features”, and her personality as a young girl did not point her towards any kind of wonderful acts of courage. In fact, Austen says that “She was fond of all boy’s plays, and greatly preferred cricket not merely to dolls, but to the more heroic enjoyments of infancy, nursing a dormouse, feeding a canary-bird, or watering a rose-bush.” Additionally, Catherine did not enjoy learning or having to sit for her lessons; as a mischievous and free-spirited child, she would rather be drawing or playing outside.

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(Brontë pg number; chapter 10). Catherine has called out Isabella for a surface-level love and warned Isabella that Heathcliff is too much for her, and Isabella retorts by saying she loves Heathcliff more than Catherine has loved Edgar, which is proof of her becoming more assertive. Heathcliff and Isabella’s relationship quickly turns toxic and abusive and Isabella finally decides to stand up for herself and run away to London. Isabella is an interesting character, the more she matures, the more stubborn and self-protective she becomes, just like Catherine. As a teenager, when Catherine is unable to get Nelly Dean to leave the room, she stubbornly pinches her and makes her leave.

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