Throughout the mid- and late-eighteenth century, England experienced a time of restoration, which was also known as "The Age of Reason" or "The Enlightenment." During this time, literature evolved into the mocking or satirical and tended to focus on “natural description, philosophical meditation and personal introspection” (Rogers, p. 244). Those influenced by this age relied on the rational and one’s personal ability to control one's emotions. It was a time of "belief in natural law, universal order, and confidence in human reason" (encyclopedia.com). By employing reason and science, humans were able to take a realistic and actual approach to truth and social issues. It was also a time of the moral and progressive individual, eager to learn and become enlightened. Jane Austen grew up during the Enlightenment and judging by her writings, one can assume that she and her novels are products of this movement.
Northanger Abbey has been widely recognized as an anti-Gothic romance novel but what that implies is rarely discussed. In refusing to take part in the latest literary trend, Austen is not necessarily creating a new genre. Clearly, in choosing not to be a romantic novel, Northanger Abbey is a product of the previous age- the Enlightenment. Through the story of Catherine Morland, Austen attempts to show her readers that it is only through real life experience and the quest for knowledge that a person can truly grow and develop into a wholesome and virtuous creature. In avoiding all the excitement of mystery and suspense, the novel portrays the harsh, and at times dull, truth of reality.
This is the same reality that Catherine finds so wearisome in history books; “invention is what delights [her] in other books” (p. 123). Even though she knows it is “right and necessary” to read history books, she finds it tormenting (p. 124). Throughout the novel, readers are aware of Catherine’s knowledge of “right” and “wrong,” and her struggle to reason between the two. As Catherine grows and becomes further enlightened, she becomes aware of the shame of her ignorance, a shame that is said to be “misplaced” because, “Where people wish to attach, they should always be ignorant. To come with a well-informed mind is to come with an inability of administering to the vanity of others, which a sensible person would always wish to avoid. A woman especially, if she have the misfortune of knowing any thing, should conceal it as well as she can” (p. 125). But in the true spirit of the Reformation hero, Tilney admires a woman for her “moral and supportive qualities” and noticing a lack of education “wishes to raise [her] standard of knowledge” (Rogers, pp. 229-230). He says, “The mere habit of learning to love is the thing; and a teachableness of disposition in a young lady is a great blessing” (p. 179). Rather than being content in her ignorance, Catherine sees all that is to be gained in an acquaintance with someone of Tilney’s knowledge and desires to learn more. Like other Enlightenment characters, Catherine sees the advantage of reason and knowledge in a world in which there is so much to learn and know; and readers can be content in the knowledge that despite her romantic tendencies, Catherine truly does possess an agreeable, and growing, amount of self-awareness.
Northanger Abbey is a novel of opposition- virtue versus vice, stability versus inconstancy, the will versus the emotions, truth versus deceit and especially the rational versus the romantic. This is best exemplified in the notable differences between Henry and Catherine, which tend to surface during conversation. In the process of educating Catherine, Henry is constantly bringing her back to reality. This is most obvious in their opposite reactions to the abbey, Catherine expecting to find a place full of mystery and with danger lurking behind hidden panels, Henry knowing that his residence is nothing more than just another home. Allowing herself to be influenced by her emotions and the horrible storm that takes place one night, Catherine is led on a disappointing discovery of an empty chest and a wardrobe that contains only a household inventory. And yet upon realizing her folly the following morning, her only fear is that Henry Tilney should learn of it. She only comprehends the extent of her foolish thinking when she compares it to the rational judgment of Tilney.
The most shameful of these exchanges occurs when Tilney finds Catherine outside of his mother’s chambers. When he discovers the horrible scheme that Catherine has allowed her imagination to run away with, he asks her to reconsider her judgment. “Consult your own understanding, your own sense of the probable, your own observation of what is passing around you …” (p. 199). Upon this revelation of truth, “The visions of romance were over. Catherine was completely awakened” (p. 201). She now realizes how she has let her mind run away with images of the novels she had recently read, and she forms the resolution of “ always judging and acting in the future with the greatest good sense” (p. 202). This aspect of her education now completed, “the anxieties of common life began soon to succeed to the alarms of romance” (p. 203). Catherine is now able to control her emotions and build a life upon good sense and reason. She is even able to view the dissolution of her friendship with Isabella without the anticipated affliction. She now feels, as Tilney says, “what is most to the credit of human nature” and he encourages her to investigate those feelings that she will better know herself. As readers, we see that a continued relationship with Henry Tilney will allow Catherine to grow into an enlightened, rational human being.
It should be noted that Jane Austen is not completely anti-romantic in the sense that she believes one should have nothing to do with such novels. It is obvious in her writings that she has read them herself. To best understand Austen’s view of this literary trend, readers should look to Henry Tilney. Henry has read The Mysteries of Udolpho, but unlike Catherine he read it merely for pleasure and is able to separate the story from reality. As Anne Henry Ehrenpeis states in her introduction to the novel, “Catherine’s folly lies not in indulging a taste for melodramatic fiction but in imposing its values on the life around her” (p. 21). Like many of her other novels, the theme in Northanger Abbey is not the threat of possessing a strong sense of feeling and emotion but rather of the risk of allowing one’s imagination to reign unchecked by one’s rationality.
Aside from exploring the nature of the text itself, we can discover evidence of the Enlightenment in Jane Austen's novels by comparing them with other works of that time period, such as Alexander Pope's "The Rape of the Lock." "The Rape of the Lock" is a mock-epic written by Pope to show his friends the trivialness and humor in a situation that had been blown out of proportion. In doing so, Pope makes society aware of its lack of discernment, especially in what is really important. In the story, Belinda is warned in a dream that something dreadful is going to happen to her that day, yet she goes about her normal routine. The dreadful deed is actually Baron snipping off a lock of her hair, an act which he prepares for by rising early and taking part in prayers and sacrifices that will ensure him of his success, which must strike the audience as absurd. After Baron snips off a lock of her hair, Belinda screams and cries- clearly she is being led by her emotions. Clarissa encourages her to control herself, and replace her anger with good humour and sense- moral qualities that will endure for a lifetime. As Pope writes: "How vain are all these glories, all our pains, Unless good sense preserve what beauty gains" or "Beauties and vanities their pretty eyes may roll; Charms strike the site, but merit wins the soul." (p. 96)But Clarissa's endeavors are in vain, a fight ensues and Belinda is only satisfied when the strands of hair are scattered about and left to dust.
Both Northanger Abbey and “The Rape of the Lock” contain instances of reason versus passion. Similar to Austen and many other writers of this period, Pope was known for “associating women with a powerful imagination, not always under control” (Fairer, p. 18). Both Catherine and Belinda have allowed themselves to be led away by their emotions, and both are fortunate enough to have a friend willing to attempt to bring them back to reality. Like Tilney, Clarissa “reminds [Belinda] of the world of commitments and responsibilities which does not exist in daydream or nightmare, but engages with how people actually live” (Fairer, p. 54). By using satire, both Austen and Pope are able to expose dangers of living by one’s imagination rather than employing rational thinking, the theme of the Enlightenment.
During the political and social upheaval of the eighteenth century, literature also endured some changes. The Restoration was a time to turn to reason and the individual for higher truth. It was within this period that Alexander Pope emerged as a popular epic writer and, with the publication of “The Rape of the Lock,” as a skilled satirist. Not long after, Jane Austen appeared as an author who was also able to portray the need for a balance between reason and passion. It should be no surprise then that Northanger Abbey was one of her earlier works, written shortly after the close of the Restoration period. While Northanger Abbey is best known for what it is not- a Gothic romance, it is important to realize what it truly is- a product of the Enlightenment.
Ehrenpreis, Anne Henry. Northanger Abbey: Introduction. Penguin Books. 1972.
Fairer, David. The Poetry of Alexander Pope. Penguin Books. 1989.
Pope, Alexander. A Critical Edition of the Major Works. Oxford. 1993.
Rogers, Pat (editor). The Oxford Illustrated History of English Literature. Oxford. 1987.
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