The Parodic Inversion of Gothic Travels in Northanger Abbey

Abstract

This article examines the significance of Catherine Morland’s travels in Northanger Abbey (1817), which is distinct among Jane Austen’s novels in that it revolves around a series of journeys its female protagonist undertakes. In parodying the gothic novel, Austen ironically inverts the journeys gothic heroines undergo by not only limiting Catherine’s travels to central England, but also eliminating the danger and excitement that often characterize the adventures of her female gothic predecessors. While Austen admittedly pokes fun at the conventions of gothic fiction, this article argues that she also employs them to illuminate the grim realities that women faced in early nineteenth-century England. In addition to examining how Austen modifies the geographical trajectory of gothic fiction to stress that the social and sexual dangers for women lie within England (and not beyond its national borders), I explore how she considers the liberating possibilities afforded to women in gothic romances, only to shut them down in the conclusion of the novel. By choosing to gloss over Catherine’s most dangerous journey, an intentionally missed opportunity where she could have related in detail the difficulties her protagonist encounters in her travels and the various ways in which she consequently matures, I argue that Austen depicts a bleaker picture of the female plight than suggested by the lighthearted tone of her parody.