The gothic genre was popular in the later 18th and 19th century amongst young people as the main character is usually transitioning from being a child to an adult. These novels were mainly read by adolescents because they were exciting and sometimes sexual. It made them feel rebellious and they would not want to share it with their parents. The reader of Northanger Abbey can sympathize and to any one of the characters, whether they have shared the same experience or if they know someone similar to them. The audience can sympathize with Catherine when she returns home embarrassed with “her spirits were quite worn down”. She is depressed until the arrival of Mr. Tilney. Readers can also relate to and sympathise with Eleanor and Henry Tilney and their estranged relationship with their father. General Tilney controls Eleanor and Henry in an oppressive manner. Catherine picks up on this and when the General is there, the mood is very different to that when he is absent. When the general leave for London “The happiness with which their time now passed, made her thoroughly sensible of the restraint which the general’s presence had imposed, and most thankfully feel their present release from it” When the General is not there, Eleanor, Henry and Catherine are much happier and they have more freedom.
Northanger Abbey has some gothic elements, but it also falls into many other genres as well. It’s gothic characteristics are satirized, making it more of a gothic parody, than an actual gothic novel. In Chapter 6 we are informed that Catherine has been reading Udolpho, and plans to read more gothic novels as Isabella says “When you have finished with Udolpho, we shall read the Italian together; and I have made out a list of ten or twelve more of the same kind for you” Catherine upon reading these books, is influenced so much by them that she believes herself to be in one of Radcliffe’s own novels, when she discovers an ebony cabinet in her room whilst staying in Northanger Abbey, she becomes overpowered by her imagination and feels compelled to search it. She later finds out that her “precious manuscripts” are just bills. This is ironically humorous for the reader, as Mr. Tilney has concocted a hypothetical story identical to the events that happen. Austen uses free indirect style, contrasted with direct and indirect speech throughout the whole novel. It allows her to express the feelings and emotions of characters to the reader, without having the character state it themselves. This type of narration merges both third-person and first-person aspects, giving both internal and external viewpoints, which can sometimes give an ironic tone.
Throughout the novel, Catherine is infatuated with gothic settings to such and extent that she is always associating things with events from the novels. In chapter 11, it is raining and Catherine says “Oh! That we had such weather here as they had at France, or at least in Tuscany and the South of France! - the night that poor St. Aubin died! - such beautiful weather!” St Aubin is the father of Emily: the heroine from Udolpho. Catherine doesn’t just want beautiful weather; she wants the weather from Udolpho. Then later on in the chapter, Isabella and John Thorpe and her brother James come to take her to visit Blaize Castle and she asks “But is it like what one reads about?...the delight of exploring an edifice like Udolpho, as her fancy represented Blaize Castle to be, was such a counterpoise of good.” Even though Catherine is expecting Eleanor Tilney to call on her, she is fascinated with visiting a place like in Udolpho.
Also, the novel has gothic settings and lexis. When Catherine is invited to go to Northanger Abbey she imagines “ damp passages, its narrow cells and ruined chapel, were to be within her daily reach, and she could not entirely subdue the hope of some traditional legends, some awful memorials of an injured and ill–fated nun.” These are gothic settings and characters based on her knowledge of gothic novels. The pathetic fallacy is used on Catherine’s first night at Northanger “the night was stormy…it blew and rained violently…these were characteristic sounds; - they brought to her recollection a countless variety of dreadful situations and horrid scenes.” The weather is terrible and it is dark at night, this usually symbolizes that some “horrid” is about to happen, but it doesn’t, hence mocking the gothic conventions further. Northanger Abbey is not a gothic novel because there is no mysterious death or horrific tragedy or disappearance. At the end of the novel, Catherine and Henry get married, making Northanger Abbey also a romantic comedy.
Northanger Abbey is an ironic parody right form the start to the end, as Jane Austen mocks gothic conventions and even though it states right at the beginning of the novel that “No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy, would have supposed her born to be an heroine” yet by the end of the novel she becomes a heroine through no fault or achievement of her own, but because of things that other people have done to her. At this time, kicking a guest out (let alone a young un-chaperoned girl) was very poor etiquette and impolite. General Tilney orders Catherine to leave in a moments notice, leaving her to travel home by herself, without an offer of a servant to accompany her or funds to help her. This makes her the typical “maiden in distress” from a stereotypical gothic novel. Even Austen refers to her as “A heroine returning” in chapter 29.
Another example of the parody of gothic conventions is how Mr. Tilney describes a hypothetical situation of Catherine discovering a “an old-fashioned cabinet of ebony and gold” and with only a candle for light she searches through it to find “sheets of manuscript”, it is ironic because later on this hypothetical situation actually occurs, and also because her “precious manuscripts” were completely useless and had no narrative value.
This is also an example of bathos, where tension is built-up. Throughout the novel, there is a climax then an anti-climax, in this case just as you think Catherine is about to stumble upon something, it turns out to be nothing, making her look stupid and foolish. This constant up and down in the plot gives the novel suspense and drama, just like a gothic novel would.
Northanger Abbey also falls into the genre of a rite of passage or coming of age. Catherine is "the very reverse of all that she had been before”. After confronting Henry about her suspicions of General's Tilney's involvement in his wife's death. His response: "consider the dangerous nature of the suspicions you have entertained...what ideas have you been admitting" finally makes her realise "her folly, which now seemed criminal". She had
grown through the events that have occurred throughout the novel. She is no longer naïve or “free from the apprehension of evil as from the knowledge of it” and as the author puts it “she was the very reverse of all that she had been before” no longer imagines gothic scenes and finally distinguishes the difference between fiction and life “Charming as were all Mrs. Radcliffe’s works, and charming even as were the works of all her imitators, it was not in them perhaps human nature, at least in the midland counties of England” Catherine realizes her stupidity at having thought such ideas about the General and feels ashamed of herself and upset that she might've ruined her relationship with Henry. Also, Henry finally stands up to their father because of his feelings towards Catherine and her mistreatment “He steadily refused to accompany his father into Herefordshire, an engagement formed almost at the moment to promote the dismissal of Catherine, and as steadily declared his intention of offering her his hand. The general was furious in his anger, and they parted in dreadful disagreement”. So, not only does Catherine grow through the novel, but Henry also. Because of this, Northanger Abbey is a rite of passage.
For a young writer Jane Austen’s range of techniques and vocabulary is extensive. She uses a lot of hyperbole, the narration is exaggerated to a point where it is either ironic, humorous or both in some cases, for example in chapter 17, General Tilney’s speech to Catherine is very long and elaborate, and all he is asking of her is to visit the abbey for a fortnight. He says “I am almost ashamed to make the request, though it’s presumption would certainly appear greater to every creature in Bath than yourself” His lexis is very exaggerated to flatter Catherine.
In conclusion, Northanger Abbey is a gothic novel to some extent, but it is more of a gothic parody. Jane Austen’s range of techniques ranging from the narration to the ironic and sometimes amusing tone makes Northanger Abbey a parody of gothic novels, with the characteristics of a romance novel, rite of passage.