Jane Austen often alludes to historical events. The first allusion appears in Volume 1, Chapter 1 and is about Richard III. When describing Catherine, the narrator says:
Her father was a clergyman, without being neglected, or poor, and a very respectable man, though his name was Richard—and he had never been handsome.
Here, Austen acknowledges that Richard III had a bad reputation; Catherine's father is respectable despite the fact that "his name was Richard." This reference is somewhat tongue-in-cheek because Austen herself was sympathetic to Richard III. She rejected Shakespeare's bias against the king and adopted Sophia Lee's positive perspective from her romantic historical novel The Recess: Or a Tale of Other Times.
An allusion in Volume 2, Chapter 2 places the abbey in its historical context. According to Miss Tilney, Northanger Abbey was a convent during the Protestant Reformation:
[...] when these inquiries were answered, she [Catherine] was hardly more assured than before, of Northanger Abbey having been a richly-endowed convent at the time of the Reformation, of its having fallen into the hands of an ancestor of the Tilneys on its dissolution, of a large portion of the ancient building still making a part of the present dwelling although the rest was decayed, or of its standing low in a valley, sheltered from the north and east by rising woods of oak.
The Protestant Reformation happened in the 16th century when the Church of England broke away from the Catholic Church. The abbey's historical role is quite interesting, but here, Catherine gets so excited about her arrival that she disregards its true history in favor of her romanticized notion of the abbey as a Gothic castle.
What is the significance of these frequent historical allusions? In many cases, Austen calls into question the correctness of certain historical perspectives (as with her subtly snide comment about Richard III), or she subverts the expectation of history's importance.
The most prominent allusions in Northanger Abbey are the recurring references to The Mysteries of Udolpho. This archetypical Gothic novel was published in 1794 by Ann Radcliffe. Many references to Udolpho comprise instances of satire, as Catherine imagines her own world to resemble that of Radcliffe's fictional one. In Volume 1, Chapter 14, Henry Tilney describes his first time reading the novel:
I have read all Mrs. Radcliffe’s works, and most of them with great pleasure. The Mysteries of Udolpho, when I had once begun it, I could not lay down again;—I remember finishing it in two days—my hair standing on end the whole time.
Here, Henry lauds the work for its entertainment value, but he takes it for what it is: a hair-raising book. Whereas Henry appreciates Udolpho strictly as a work of fiction, Catherine allows it to influence her reality. She remarks in Volume 1, Chapter 11:
[...] now I shall give it up entirely. Oh! that we had such weather here as they had at Udolpho, or at least in Tuscany and the South of France!—the night that poor St Aubin died!—such beautiful weather!
St. Aubin, or St. Aubert, was the father of Emily (the heroine of Radcliffe's Mysteries of Udolpho). Catherine takes the book very seriously and turns every experience into a dramatic adventure. Austen uses her character to satirize the overwrought heroines in sentimental and Gothic novels. Catherine's frequent overreactions make her resemble the classic sentimental heroine, and her interactions at Northanger Abbey reveal her expectation that reality will match that of a Gothic heroine.
The most prominent allusions in Northanger Abbey are the recurring references to The Mysteries of Udolpho. This archetypical Gothic novel was published in 1794 by Ann Radcliffe. Many references to Udolpho comprise instances of satire, as Catherine imagines her own world to resemble that of Radcliffe's fictional one. In Volume 1, Chapter 14, Henry Tilney describes his first time reading the novel:
I have read all Mrs. Radcliffe’s works, and most of them with great pleasure. The Mysteries of Udolpho, when I had once begun it, I could not lay down again;—I remember finishing it in two days—my hair standing on end the whole time.
Here, Henry lauds the work for its entertainment value, but he takes it for what it is: a hair-raising book. Whereas Henry appreciates Udolpho strictly as a work of fiction, Catherine allows it to influence her reality. She remarks in Volume 1, Chapter 11:
[...] now I shall give it up entirely. Oh! that we had such weather here as they had at Udolpho, or at least in Tuscany and the South of France!—the night that poor St Aubin died!—such beautiful weather!
St. Aubin, or St. Aubert, was the father of Emily (the heroine of Radcliffe's Mysteries of Udolpho). Catherine takes the book very seriously and turns every experience into a dramatic adventure. Austen uses her character to satirize the overwrought heroines in sentimental and Gothic novels. Catherine's frequent overreactions make her resemble the classic sentimental heroine, and her interactions at Northanger Abbey reveal her expectation that reality will match that of a Gothic heroine.
Jane Austen often alludes to historical events. The first allusion appears in Volume 1, Chapter 1 and is about Richard III. When describing Catherine, the narrator says:
Her father was a clergyman, without being neglected, or poor, and a very respectable man, though his name was Richard—and he had never been handsome.
Here, Austen acknowledges that Richard III had a bad reputation; Catherine's father is respectable despite the fact that "his name was Richard." This reference is somewhat tongue-in-cheek because Austen herself was sympathetic to Richard III. She rejected Shakespeare's bias against the king and adopted Sophia Lee's positive perspective from her romantic historical novel The Recess: Or a Tale of Other Times.
An allusion in Volume 2, Chapter 2 places the abbey in its historical context. According to Miss Tilney, Northanger Abbey was a convent during the Protestant Reformation:
[...] when these inquiries were answered, she [Catherine] was hardly more assured than before, of Northanger Abbey having been a richly-endowed convent at the time of the Reformation, of its having fallen into the hands of an ancestor of the Tilneys on its dissolution, of a large portion of the ancient building still making a part of the present dwelling although the rest was decayed, or of its standing low in a valley, sheltered from the north and east by rising woods of oak.
The Protestant Reformation happened in the 16th century when the Church of England broke away from the Catholic Church. The abbey's historical role is quite interesting, but here, Catherine gets so excited about her arrival that she disregards its true history in favor of her romanticized notion of the abbey as a Gothic castle.
What is the significance of these frequent historical allusions? In many cases, Austen calls into question the correctness of certain historical perspectives (as with her subtly snide comment about Richard III), or she subverts the expectation of history's importance.
