Use Of Gender Stereotypes In Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey

158 Words1 Pages
In the Jane Austen novel, Northanger Abbey, the author successfully satirizes the elements and forms of Gothic Literature through characters.The title itself has a gothic feel evoking the picture of a distant perhaps abandoned abbey, but the story is completely not about that. Austen criticizes Catherine’s interest in gothic novels tying in the gothic idea of supernatural into realism. The author doesn't want women to be distracted from reality, thus, satirizes the gothic genre making it clear that domestic novels for women are more beneficial. Throughout the novel Austen also utilizes Catherine to depict gender stereotypes that is frequently seen in gothic novels. In this case, she may not be a “real” heroine. She does not fit the description