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Works

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i. ii. iii. iv.

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Introduction

Jane Austen (1775~1817), who lived at the turn of the 18th and 19th century,

is the most distinguished as well as the most widely read female novelist in British

literature. She was born on December 16, 1775, at Steventon rectory in Hampshire,

England, and died in Winchester on July 18, 1817, and was buried in Winchester

Cathedral.

Austen

lives

in

a

large

family

with

six

brothers

and

one

sister.

Her

father,

George

Austen

was

a

rector

for

much

of

reading

also

’s

edu

cation

and

writing

life,

talked

about

different

political

or

social

ideas,

and

any

personal

opinions would be accepted and discussed. Jane Austen began to write when she

was only about thirteen and the everlasting support of ’s personal experiences

:

few

changes

and

no

great

crisis

even

broke

the

smooth

current

of

its

course‖

(James 11). Austen’s works are usuall

y confined to a limited circle. In a letter to

made comments on

work as ―[ them on to the little bit of Ivory on which I work

with so fine a Br

ush, as produces little effect after much labor?‖ (Lefroy 160). Liu

Bingshan

appraised

that

―[t]

is

true.

The

ivory

surface

is

small

enough,

but

the

woman who made drawings of

life on it is a real artist‖ (309). Some critics accuse

Jane Austen of writing

with a narrow vision, and that ’s works show their values

on reflecting the social realities of

and Wu Gang comment in their book that ―’s]

unique

sensitivity

to

emotions,

…

made

wrote

six

complete

novels

during

(1818). Her literary works

attracting more and more readers from . Jane Austen

is

considered as

―a genius

that appeals

to any generation‖ (Qiao iv). The British

female writer Virginia Woolf said that ―[o]f all great novelists, Jane Austen is the

most difficult to catch in the act of greatness‖

(Zhu 5).

The work discussed in this thesis is

Northanger Abbey

, which tells a story of

the

naive

protagonist

with

a

very

over- active

imagination,

Catherine

Morland,

a

Gothic

novel

aficionado,

who

treats

Gothic

novels

as

the

imaginary

life

in

Gothic

novels

and

ordinary

life

situations.

Although

Northanger

Abbey

was

the

first

to

be

completed

by

Jane

Austen,

it

given

enough

attention

nor

been

adequately

studied

for

some

considerable

time

in

the

past.

In

fact,

Northanger

Abbey

and debates in recent years (see Chapter One).

This thesis argues that

Northanger Abbey

shows Jane Austen’s anti

-Gothicism

through

addition

to

Introduction

and

Conclusion,

the

thesis

consists

of

three

chapters.

The

first

chapter

briefly

introduces

Gothic

novels,

illustrates

different

viewpoints

on

the

relationship

between

Northanger

Abbey

and

Gothic

novels

as

discussed by some critics and scholars. The second chapter analyses Jane Austen’s

parodic anti-Gothicism by comparing the plot arrangement and characterization

of the novel

with that of Gothic novels. The third chapter discusses Jane Austen’s

criticism of Gothic novels through focusing on Catherine’s ridiculous adventures.

Chapter One

Gothic Novels and

Northanger Abbey

Northanger Abbey

is a parody of Gothic novels. The first part of this chapter

briefly

introduces

the

origin,

development

and

typical

features

of

Gothic

novels;

the

second

part

mainly

illustrates

different

viewpoints

on

Austen’s

attitude

towards Gothic novels.

I.

Origin and Development of Gothic Novels

The

word

―Goth,‖

coming

from

the

name

of

an

ancient

tribe

in

Europe,

and

its

derivative

form

―Gothic,‖

which

reminds

people

of

mysticism,

terror,

and

dark,

were

frequently

used

to

describe

medieval

things in the 18th century. According to a

the style that was popular in

Western

Europe

from

the

12th

century

to

the

16th

centuries,

and

which

pillars

and

a

novel

written

in

the

style

popular

in

the

18th

and

19th

centuries,

which

described

romantic

adventures

in

mysterious

or

frightening surroundings. (Hornby 883)

注意引语段格式

Now

it

generally

refers

to

a

genre

of

literature,

which

is

―full

of

depicts

of

murders

and

supernatural

things

to

thrill

readers‖

(Han

36),

combines

both

readers‖ (Zhao 283).

From the above quotes, it is known that some basic elements in Gothic novels

include:

setting

in

a

castle,

which

often

contains

secret

passages

and

staircases,

dark

or

rooms;

an

atmosphere

of

mystery

and

suspense

that

arouses

fear

and

terror;

supernatural

events,

such

as

ghosts

or

unknown

giants

coming

to

life;

,

like

anger,

sorrow,

especially

terror

from

which

the

characters

suffer;

distress,

which appeals to the sympathy of the readers; and romance, such as powerful love

between

the

by

the

English

author

Horace

Walpole.

The

work

is

remarkable

because it

is the first attempt to find ―a tale of amusing fiction upon the basis of the

ancient romance of chivalry‖ (Walter 115) and it ―start[s] a fashion and set[s] an

example

for

other

Gothic

novelists‖

(Zhang

5).

In

addition,

the

novel

was

―an

attempt to blend

the two kinds of romance, the ancient and the modern‖ (Horace

19).

Horace

Walpole

opens

the

door

of

Gothic

novels

and

a

lot

of

other

Gothic

novelists follow suit. Among them, Ann Radcliff and Mathew Gregory Lewis are

two most famous ones for their respective work

The Mysteries of Udolpho

and

The

Monk

.

The

Mysteries

of

Udolpho

(1794),

through

which

Ann

Radcliff

made

the

Gothic novel socially acceptable, was an unparalleled success at that time, and was

also frequently referred to by Jane Austen in

Northanger Abbey

. In the mid-1790s

the

Gothic

novel

reaches

its

summit,

and

David

Punder

comments,

probably

an

exaggeration,

that

―this

body

of

fiction

may

well

criticized

as

crude

by

many

critics. In the preface of

Lyrical Ballads

, Wordsworth commented on Gothic novels

as:

The invaluable works of … Shakespeare and Milton

are driven

into

neglect by frantic novels, sickly and stupid German Tragedies, and deluges

of

In spite of criticism from many literary figures, Gothic novels still attracted a

lot of readers and

the Gothic influence was amazingly continuing. ―It

estimated

that

the

reading

population

of

Britain

increased

from

one

and

a

in

1780

to

between

seven

and

eight

million

by

1830‖

(Lin

24),

and

―Gothic

novels

the

literature

of

later

generations

and

on

every

European

literature.

They

the

American literature, Hawthorn and Allen Poe in particular‖ (Zhao 283). It is not

so

the

Romantic

period,

some

famous

works

are:

Percy

Bysshe

Shelley’s

first

published

work,

Zastrozzi

(1810),

was

publicly-known

as

a

Gothic

novel;

Mary

Shelley’s Frankenstein, or,

The Modern Prometheus

(1818); Coleridge’s

The Rime

of

the

Ancient

Mariner

(1798)

and

Christabel

(1816);

Keats’

La

Belle

Dame

sans

Merci

(1819)

and

Isabella

(1820);

and

The

Vampyre

(1819)

by

John

William

Polidori.

Cha

rlotte

Brontë’s

Jane

Eyre

(1847)

and

Emily

Brontë’s

Wuthering