Literature and Other Arts and Media - The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

[Final Paper] The Narrator of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey

Northanger Abbey is considered by many critics the work that represents Jane Austen’s writing in the first phase of her career. The book is a burlesque of the Gothic novels in vogue in the 1790s and the extravagance and little common sense found in them. The tone of mockery of the novel requires a narrator that is detached from the story and is superior to the characters in order to guide the reader and present him the necessary information to understand the irony of what is being told. The narrator of Northanger Abbey can be defined as the voice that will point out the absurdities of Gothic novels while pretending to be a sentimental novelist herself/himself and, at other moments, will openly criticize not only the writers of such novels, but also the readers that are deluded by them. (Schamber, Babb, Brownstein, Wright)

The narrator of Northanger Abbey has been vastly studied; the inconsistence of narration in the novel as well as the importance of the narrator for the mockery intended by the story originated many analyses of Austen’s work. Schamber states that the reason for the choice of an omnipotent and omniscient narrator “is obviously that this personality is necessary to accomplish the two main purposes of the novel – literary burlesque and social and moral comment.” (7) In the book we are presented with a narrator that knows of the characters’ past, present and future as she/he describes Catherine Morland’s childhood, her present situation and hints at the future, for example, when she/he argues that “when a young lady is to be a heroine […] something must and will happen to throw a hero in her way.” (Austen 9)

The narrator introduces Catherine Morland to the reader as an anti-heroine. Nothing in her life would have led anyone to believe her destined to be a heroine for she was not poor, her father was not in the habit of locking his daughters and her mother has not died in childbirth. Catherine’s “own person and disposition” (Austen 5) were also in disagreement with what would be expected of a heroine. While the narrator exposes what her/his readers would consider the essential characteristics of a novel heroine and states that Catherine is nothing like that, she/he associates herself/himself with the novelists that create these heroines and, as argued by Wright, constructs a double pretense “that the author is another in the long line of sentimental novelists, and the calculated illusion that the audience will be composed of readers of this genre.” (49) Wright also points out that, if in many passages Austen is “identifying herself with a sentimental novelist” (49), in other instances she tells the truth as she sees it and “leaves it to the reader to discriminate between the two narrators of this story.” (50)

The description that the narrator gives of Mrs. Allen is directed to the reader so that he “may be able to judge” (Austen 12) how she would interfere to reduce Catherine “to all the desperate wretchedness of which a last volume is capable” (Austen 12). This portrayal also functions as a mockery of Gothic novels as the reader is able to judge when Mrs. Allen’s characterization does not give any indication that she would be capable of inflicting any distress in the young woman’s life. Zimmerman points out that this description enables the reader to understand the probabilities of a chaperon in a novel and when these are applied to “the dull Mrs. Allen [they] are comic.” (57) Schamber argues that Mrs. Thorpe portrait is similar to that of Mrs. Allen and indicates that “since Catherine is to be deceived by Mrs. Thorpe’s daughter, Isabella, a description of the later is noticeably lacking.” (11)

The heroine’s difficult in distinguishing between reality and the ideas taken from the novels she reads is expounded during her stay in Bath. Catherine becomes immediate friends with Isabella Thorpe and is unable to notice her friend’s shallowness, although the reader can easily identify Isabella’s true nature by her conversation and attitudes. According to Zimmerman, Catherine is created in the early chapters as an ambiguous heroine and her rationality is what distinguishes her from the usual heroine’s behavior. (58) Despite the fact that she is naïve and tends to view facts and relationships “according to notions of friendship and honor that derive ultimately from novels of sentiment”, (Babb 86) her reactions are not as exacerbated as would be expected. For example, when Henry Tilney returns to Bath and is seen with a young woman, Catherine concludes that it must be his sister, although the narrator suggests that the appropriated reaction of a heroine would be to consider “him lost to her for ever, by being married already.” (Austen 53) Zimmerman defends that the narrator’s use of extreme description is a device to emphasize Catharine’s ordinariness. (58)

While the narrator masquerades herself/himself as a sentimental novelist and uses this position to satirize the over sensitive novels, she/he in unable to instruct Catherine on the dangers of her uncritical acceptance of these same novels, this job is rendered to Henry Tilney, as pointed out by Babb (88). The appearance of the novel’s hero in chapter three of the first volume causes the disappearance of the narrator in effect, as mentioned by Schamber (12). Henry is now responsible for the ridiculing of sentimental novels clichés, as exemplified in his speech after his first dance with Catherine in Bath:

I have hitherto been very remiss, madam, in the proper attentions of a partner here; I have not yet asked you how long you have been in Bath; whether or not you were ever here before; whether you have been at the Upper Rooms, the theatre, and the concert; and how you like the place altogether. (Austen 18-19)

These questions that Henry directs at Catherine are what would be expected to be asked of a heroine by the hero when first meeting her (Schamber 12). Henry Tilney proceeds with his mockery and his criticism of the social conventions and values of his time by ridiculing the practice of keeping a journal and stating what Catherine would likely write in hers about their meeting. His irony is evident when he declares the impossibility of her not keeping a journal for without it, he tells her, “How are your various dresses to be remembered, and the particular state of your complexion, and the curl of your hair to be described […]?” (Austen 20).

The narrator assumes her/his place again once Henry exists the scene by commenting on whether or not Catherine would dream of him. Her/his position as a separate personality is, as ascertained by Schamber, reaffirmed when the narrator makes use of the personal pronoun “I” to give the reader her/his opinion: “I hope it was no more than a slight slumber or a morning doze at most.” (Austen 23)

The most obvious authorial intrusion on Northanger Abbey happens when Catherine and Isabella “shut themselves up, to read novels together” (Austen 32) in the fifth chapter of the first volume. The narrator launches into a two pages defense of novels by an “attack on the convention of attacking novels” (Zimmerman 59), stating: “I will not adopt that ungenerous and impolitic custom so common with novel writers, of degrading by their contemptuous censure the very performances, to the number of which they are themselves adding […]” (Austen 32). Brownstein draws attention to the fact that “this declaration conspicuously ignores” the gothic novels read by Catherine and Isabella. (38)

The last stage of Catherine’s growth into a heroine happens in the course of her visit to Northanger Abbey. During the carriage ride to the Tilney’s residence, Henry describes to Catherine all the horrors she should expect to encounter at the abbey. He uses the formulas of the novels she enjoys reading to set her up to await many adventures equal to those lived by the gothic heroines. As Brownstein analyses, Catherine falls for Henry’s teasing because she likes him and because of her gullible imagination (39), although she protests that “this is just like a book – But it cannot really happen to me” (Austen 175). The narrator retreats once more in this section of the novel, for her/his presence explaining Catherine’s misguided thoughts would ruin the suspense, as argued by Schamber (23).

In the course of her stay at Northanger Abbey, Catherine starts imagining all sorts of horrors and her ultimate self-deception causes Henry to give her his most direct lesson on the danger of allowing her imagination to run unchecked. Understanding the assumptions the heroine has made about his mother’s death, believing that she was murdered by his father, General Tilney, Henry calls on her to see reason:

Dear Miss Morland, consider the dreadful nature of the suspicious you have entertained. What have you been judging from? […] Consult your own understanding, your own sense of the probable, your own observation of what is passing around you – does our education prepare us for such atrocities? […] (Austen 220)

Once again, Henry takes the place of the narrator to point out the absurdity of replacing reason with imagination and the heroine is finally able to see it for herself (Schamber 23): “The vision of romance was over. Catherine was completely awakened.” (Austen 221) The hero “tried to free Catherine’s imagination from the errors bred in it by reading novels” (Babb 88), which serves also as a criticism to those readers that, like the heroine of the book, let their minds be ruled by the exaggerations found in sentimental novels.

Finally, Catherine is also awakened to the true character of her former friend, Isabella Thorpe. The letter sent to her by Isabella asking for help to reestablish the broken engagement to her brother, James, is clearly seen as a shallow artifice, mentions Schamber. (25) With Henry’s help, Catharine reached her final maturation as heroine and the narrator is no longer essential to guide the reader, for now he can trust Catherine’s accounts of her surroundings. (Schamber 25)

Although we are led by the narrator, throughout the novel, to many beliefs regarding the value of Gothic novels and the absurdities of Catherine’s unchecked imagination, these same beliefs are deconstructed in the sequence, marking the differences between this novel and the ones it is mocking. For example, as indicated by Brownstein “we are persuaded to think her [Catherine] absurd for having horrific ‘visions of romance’ about the General – but then, on the other hand, they prove to be substantially correct.” (40) These reversals are used to emphasize the point of view that the narrator is trying to show to the reader without openly declaring it.

General Tilney turns out to be evil in a different way than imagined by Catherine. He is materialistic and does not hesitate in throwing the heroine from his house without any explanation for his actions or any support for her travel home, when he discovers that she is not as rich as he had been led to believe. The narrator once again makes herself/himself present to highlight the anti-romance elements of the story by contrasting the expected heroine’s return home in triumph to the sad reality of Catherine Morland (Schamber 29): “I bring back my heroine to her home in solitude and disgrace. (Austen 261) Catherine’s parents’ failure to notice that her ill looks and agitation were born in matters of the heart is used by the narrator to mock the general formula of novels anew as Schamber defends. (29)

The last two chapters are marked by the narrator’s directed explanation of events and sentiments that lead to the felicity of her heroine and hero. The narrator uses this opportunity to remember that, although she has a happy ending, Catherine is still unlike usual heroines for Henry’s affections for her were born of his knowledge of her affection for him: “It is a new circumstance in romance, I acknowledge, and dreadfully derogatory of an heroine’s dignity; but if it be as new in common life, the credit of a wild imagination will at least be all my own.” (Austen 274)

The narrator’s presence as a separated personality is emphasized as she/he directs herself/himself to the reader stating that they would “see in the tell-tale compression of the pages before them, that we are all hastening together to perfect felicity.” (Austen 281). Schamber points out that the narrator’s presence is “further stressed as she states concerning Eleanor’s marriage that she is aware that the rules of composition forbid the introduction of a character not connected with her fable.” (31) The narrator ends her/his tale by playfully leaving “it to be settled by whomsoever it may concern, whether the tendency of this work be altogether to recommend parental tyranny, or reward filial disobedience.” (Austen 284)

The narrator of Northanger Abbey is an essential element to achieve the purpose of literary burlesque of the novel. To understand this it is necessary to take in consideration Austen’s choice for the specific omnipotent and omniscient narrator that gives the reader the necessary information to comprehend what the heroine cannot yet see for herself.  It is also important to understand the opposition of the narrator’s mocking presence and open criticism to the rational posture of Henry Tilney who guides the heroine to her own growth, and the late maturation and development of reason of Catherine Morland.

The voice of the narrator severs as a guide to the reader’s understanding of Catherine’s misguided notions born in the reading of novels, and direct criticism of such over sentimental novels. The narrator’s presence allows the reader to see beyond the heroine’s defective discernment between real life and fiction, until the heroine completes her maturation throughout the novel and becomes a reliable source of information to the reader. In order to completely unravel the hidden meanings of the novel the reader needs first to understand the narrator and its place in the story.

Bibliography

Austen, Jane. Northanger Abbey. Penguin Books: London. 2006. Print.

Babb, Howard S. Jane Austen’s Novels: The Fabric of Dialogue. Ohio State University Press. 1962. Print.

Booth, Wayne C. The Rhetoric of Fiction. The University of Chicago Press: Chicago. 1983. Print.

Copeland , Edward (ed),  Brownstein, Rachel et al. The Cambridge companion to Jane Austen. Cambridge University Press: Melbourne, Australia, 1997. Print.

Halevi-Wise, Yael; Interactive Fiction: Scenes of Storytelling in the Novel. Greenwood Publishing Group: London. 2003. Print.

Litz, A. Walton. Jane Austen: A Study of Her Artistic Development. Chatto and Windus: London. 1965. Print.

Miller, Christopher R. “Jane Austen’s Aesthetics and Ethics of Surprise”. Narrative 13.3 (2005): 238-260.Web. 31 Oct. 2011.

Nelles, William. “Omniscience for Atheists: Or, Jane Austen’s Infallible Narrator”. Narrative 14.2 (2006): 118-131. We. 31 Oct. 2011.

Rathburn, Robert C. From Jane Austen to Joseph Conrad: Essays Collected in Memory of James T. Hillhouse. University of Minnesota Press: USA. Print.

Schamber, Julie A. “Narrative Perspective in the Novels of Jane Austen”. MA theses. Drake University, 1969.

Wright, Andrew H. Jane Austen’s Novels: A Study in Structure. Penguin Books: Mitcham. 1962. Print.

Zimmerman, Everett. “The Function of Parody in Northanger Abbey”. Modern Language Quarterly 30.1 (1969): 53-63. Web. 05 Oct. 2011

[Proposal Essay] The narrator of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey

Northanger Abbey is considered by many critics the work that represents Jane Austen’s writing in the first phase of her career. The book is a burlesque of the Gothic novels in vogue in the 1790s and the extravagance and little common sense found in them. The tone of mockery of the novel required a narrator that was detached from the story and was superior to the characters in order to guide the reader and present him with the necessary information to understand the irony of what is being told. The narrator of Northanger Abbey can be defined as the voice that will point out the absurdities of Gothic novels while pretending to be a sentimental novelist herself and, at other moments, will openly criticize not only the writers of such novels, but also the readers that are deluded by them.

The narrator of Northanger Abbey has been vastly studied; the inconsistence of narration in the novel as well as the importance of the narrator for the mockery intended by the story originated many analyses of Austen’s work. Schamber makes a complete study of the narrator of Northanger Abbey in “Narrative perspective in the novels of Jane Austen”, from the choice of type of narrator to the importance of its presence in the novel.

Throughout the novel we are led by the narrator to many beliefs regarding the value of Gothic novels and the absurdities of Catherine’s unchecked imagination just to have these same beliefs deconstructed, for example, as indicated by Brownstein “we are persuaded to think her [Catherine] absurd for having horrific ‘visions of romance’(Austen, 221) about the General – but then, on the other hand, they prove to be substantially correct.” (40) This reversals are used to emphasize the point of view that the narrator is trying to show to the reader without openly declaring it.

The double pretense of the narrator is also discussed by Wright in his work Jane Austen’s Novels: A Study in Structure, where he points out that in many passages Austen is “identifying herself with a sentimental novelist” (49) while in other instances she tells the truth as she sees it and “leaves it to the reader to discriminate between the two narrators of this story.” (50) Babb in Jane Austen’s Novels: The Fabric of Dialogue, also makes an analyses of how the narrator chosen by Austen is important in the development of the parody as she masquerades “as an author who champions the behavior recommended by the sentimental novel"(87) and opposes this in the "sensitively rational Henry Tilney, whose opinions are solidly grounded in reality." (87)

In the paper I intend to discuss the narrator of Northanger Abbey and highlight her importance to the development of the plot and the achievement of the story’s objective of literary mockery of the Gothic novel and social comment, using excerpts from the book to exemplify the arguments.

The narrator of Northanger Abbey is an essential element to achieve the purpose of literary burlesque. To understand this it is necessary to comprehend Austen’s choice for the specific narrator she uses in the novel and the inconsistences encountered during the novel. In order to completely unravel the hidden meanings of the novel the reader needs first to understand the narrator and its place in the story.

Bibliography

Austen, Jane. Northanger Abbey. Penguin Books: London. 2006. Print.

Babb, Howard S. Jane Austen’s Novels: The Fabric of Dialogue. Ohio State University Press. 1962. Print.

Booth, Wayne C. The Rhetoric of Fiction. The University of Chicago Press: Chicago. 1983. Print.

Copeland , Edward (ed) et al. The Cambridge companion to Jane Austen. Cambridge University Press: Melbourne, Australia, 1997. Print.

Halevi-Wise, Yael; Interactive Fiction: Scenes of Storytelling in the Novel. Greenwood Publishing Group: London. 2003. Print.

Litz, A. Walton. Jane Austen: A Study of Her Artistic Development. Chatto and Windus: London. 1965. Print.

Miller, Christopher R. “Jane Austen’s Aesthetics and Ethics of Surprise”. Narrative 13.3 (2005): 238-260.Web. 31 Oct. 2011.

Nelles, William. “Omniscience for Atheists: Or, Jane Austen’s Infallible Narrator”. Narrative 14.2 (2006): 118-131. We. 31 Oct. 2011.

Rathburn, Robert C. From Jane Austen to Joseph Conrad: Essays Collected in Memory of James T. Hillhouse. University of Minnesota Press: USA. Print.

Schamber, Julie A. “Narrative Perspective in the Novels of Jane Austen”. MA theses. Drake University, 1969.

Wright, Andrew H. Jane Austen’s Novels: A Study in Structure. Penguin Books: Mitcham. 1962. Print.

Zimmerman, Everett. “The Function of Parody in Northanger Abbey”. Modern Language Quarterly 30.1 (1969): 53-63. Web. 05 Oct. 2011

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries kickstarter success

How can you explain 4.620 people giving $320.637 in only 5 days to fund the release of a DVD and the future productions from The Lizzie Bennet Diariescreators? Maybe I should start trying to answer that question by explain why I gave a lot of my money to this Kickstarter project (especially considering that each dollar I gave is worth 2 reais, the currency in Brazil where I live).

For me it much more than getting the DVD, button packs, journal signed by Hank Green and Bernie Su, LBD edition of Pride and Prejudice and a copy of the script of the first 8 episodes of LBD signed by cast members. For me this is about saying: “You people did a great work and you deserve all the praise for this and this money is just a small way to say thank you and, at the same time, help you make more wonderful things for us.” For me, being a backer of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries DVD… and More! is all about believing in the power of art.

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries is an absolute phenomenon of the internet (check it onYouTube now if you haven’t yet), and this is because, using the contemporary William Darcy’s words, the story “resonates with people”. Frank McConnel wrote inStorytelling and Mythmaking: Images from Film and Literature, that “stories matter, and matter deeply, because they are the best way to save our lives.” (3) There is no questioning the value of Jane Austen’s most beloved novel, Pride and Prejudice. This story is not alive after 200 years of being first published by chance. Pride and Prejudice has reached a new height in popularity after so many years because people feel connected to it. It is not just the story of Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet falling in love, this is about the human nature, how we are inclined to judge and to be misled in our opinions when we feel offended or that we are better than other people.

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries brought it all up to our days, to the crazy life of technology and fast communication and lack of privacy. No wonder it has been such a huge success. How could we not feel empathy for these characters? It is impossible because they have so much of who we are, just like they had in Austen’s books, but now they have been updated to fit into our world.

I think this explains why so many people are willingly giving their money to guarantee that the DVD will be released and that new productions will be made. Storytelling is an art that has been present in human lives for a very long time and its power only increases. For that reason, when such a great story as Pride and Prejudice is told in such a brilliant way as The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, people will give their money to see it happen, because art is so much more than money will ever be.

Oh, by the way, if you are not a The Lizzie Bennet Diaries DVD… and More!backer yet, there is still time to become one here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pemberleydigital/the-lizzie-bennet-diaries-dvdand-more

Jane Austen

My Jane Austen books collection

Jane Austen has become increasingly popular after the 1995 Pride & Prejudice BBC adaptation with Colin Firth as Fitzwilliam Darcy and Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet. The six-episode adaptation started a fever of productions based in Austen’s books, from TV series that follow the plot of the books to adaptations of the stories to modern days, like the now popular The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, and twists like the TV series Lost in Austen. Jane Austen probably (we could even say for sure) never imagined that her works would become so popular and that her name would be known and admired all over the world.Born on December 16th, 1775, in the Steventon parsonage, Hampshire, England, Jane Austen was the seventh child of eight children. The Austen family was not rich, but they lived comfortably enough on the clergyman’s salary of Reverend George Austen and the supplementary earnings with the farm and a boys’ school run by Austen’s father and mother.

Jane Austen had six brothers and just one sister, Cassandra, who would be her best friend throughout her life. The two sisters went to boarding school together to receive what was, at the time, the education deemed appropriate for girls (music, languages, drawing, painting, etc.) After returning from school Austen began writing and was supported in this by her family who enjoyed listening to her stories.

After her father’s death in 1805, Jane Austen found herself in precarious financial situation with her mother and sister, both named Cassandra. They were forced to move many times until they finally settle in a cottage in Chawton that was owned by her brother Edward. At this time, Austen began working on her writings again and 1811 Sense and Sensibility was published with the authorship identified only as By a Lady.

The book was very successful and was followed by Pride and Prejudice in 1813, Mansfield Park in 1814, Emma in 1815 and Northanger Abbey and Persuasion that were published posthumously in 1818.

Jane Austen never married. She received a marriage proposal which she accepted, but changed her mind on the next day and refuse the young man. This is something for which we should be grateful, as a married woman Austen would probably not have published so many books and we would be missing out in these great works of the English literature.

The author died on July 17th, 1817, supposedly from Addison’s disease, leaving behind an unfinished novel, Sandition, with only eleven chapters.

Although her works are seen as merely romantic novels by many people, it is indisputable that her books are full of irony and witty criticism of the 19th century English society. The world of marriage and the rules involved in the process are explored and criticized in her novels. The mistaken assumptions of Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy in Pride and Prejudice show that social standings are not enough to make a person less susceptible to character faults. In Northanger Abbey, Austen wittily criticizes the reaction of the public to the popular gothic novels of the time. These are just two examples of the words between the lines of her works, we can find much more if we look closely enough.

This year we celebrate the the bicentenary of the first publication of Pride and Prejudice. The novel was first published in 28 January 1813. I will write more about the novel soon.

I’ll eventually write a bit more about each of her novels. This was just a brief biography so that we can know a little more about such an important name on the English literature canon.




Based on my readings of:

Hannon, Patrice. 101 Things You Didn’t Know about Jane Austen. Adams Media: Avon. 2007. Print.

Dickson, Rebecca. Jane Austen: An Illustrated Treasury. Metro Books: New York. 2008.