Jane Austen Northanger Abbey Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Jane Austen Northanger Abbey - Essay ExampleThe novel traces the metamorphosis of Catherine Morland, the wide-eyed ingnue, who mixes the imagined world of her medieval novels with the reality of her existence, and her final rapprochement with the truth that life is different from what her imagination had portrayed it to be.Northanger Abbey on one level can be treated as a novel of manners, since it encompasses close of the traits that conform to this genre. The novel is a commentary on the life in nineteenth century England and much emphasis has been placed on the components of proper and unseasonable behavior. The story itself is a kind of coming-of-age narrative, where we see the 17 year old Catherine Morland grow up from a wide eyed immature girl into the positive woman who knows how to take her rightful place in society. Catherines growth is not only concerned with learning, but it is a process of unlearning all that she has imbibed from the Gothic novels she relishes. She ha s to master the art of curbing her imagination and instead learn to grapple with reality.The social conventions of the time are portrayed brilliantly by Jane Austen in her whole works and in Northanger Abbey we see her outlook towards the custom of primogeniture, which she has dealt with in her other works too. Austen juxtaposes the profligate natural heir with a younger but more loose sibling, who is denied a part in the family fortune only because of a stroke of fate. In Northanger Abbey, the Tilney brothers are a perfect example of the absurdity of this law. Frederick Tilney disobedient and stupid heir apparent to his fathers fortune shows a complete lack of disregard to social conventions, directly in proportion to his unchallenged sound position as heir. (Popham , Sir John) Henry Tilney, on the other hand is more suited to carry out the proper management of the Tilney estate and also bring into being stronger family bonds. The issue of primogeniture inheritance laws and