Northanger Abbey: plot and analysis of Jane Austen’s novel that tells the story of Catherine, a young woman passionate about mystery books.
JANE AUSTEN’S NORTHANGER ABBEY: ANALYSIS AND PLOT
Northanger Abbey is Jane Austen ‘s least-known novel. Completed in 1803, it was published posthumously in 1818. Jane Austen ‘s novel tells the story of Catherine, a young and lively reader of Gothic mystery books . Tired of the monotonous life of the country, she is invited by the Allens to spend a holiday in Bath. There she meets their brother James, Isabella and John Thorpe, Henry and Eleanore Tilney. John is immediately fascinated by Catherine , but she greatly admires Henry. Meanwhile James becomes engaged to Isabella , but she soon falls in love with Frederick Tilney, Henry’s brother. Catherine is saddened by this, but her spirits are lifted by the Tilneys’ invitation to go to their home, Northanger Abbey , for a while .
NORTHANGER ABBEY: PLOT
For Catherine it is a dream : she can be close to Henry and at the same time stay in the typical setting of her favorite novels . From the moment she arrives, however, our protagonist is overwhelmed by the place. She begins to fear that strange things are happening and that terrifying secrets may be hidden in the building, going so far as to imagine a crime. In the meantime, first she receives the news that Isabella has left James for Frederick , then that the latter has no intention of marrying her, and finally she gets to the letter in which Isabella asks for her and James’s forgiveness for what happened.
The stay at the Tilneys goes wonderfully , until the day Mr. Tilney abruptly sends her away. In fact, he believed that Catherine was rich and once he discovered the truth he wants to separate her from her son Henry. Henry, however, declares his love for Catherine and in the end the two lovers manage to marry, also with the blessing of his father.
