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This is an analysis of Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen....

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Karl Stout

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Dr Melissa Williams English 121 8 October 2014

Exploring the Role of Female Gender in Northanger Abbey In the entire the history of humanity, women have generally been held to certain standards which, over time, developed into stereotypes prevalent within a vast majority of the modern cultures present in today’s world. As these stereotypes grew stronger, the presumption that women were to meet them began to take over their lives, eventually taking control of women’s general duties given by their communities. Throughout the novel Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen, there is abundant reference to the cultural norms within human society, contrasting distinctly between the roles of men and those of women. Through the personas of female characters in Northanger Abbey, Austen suggests that the roles of women in society depend solely on the expectations which are placed upon them, not those they place on themselves. With their freedom of choice taken away, women are dehumanized into a powerless group, disgracefully ranked inferior to their counterparts. Whether Austen’s illustrations of these stereotypes correspond to the actual truth of the real world is insignificant, as they are undoubtedly engraved within the human perception of the world they live in. While Northanger Abbey is a piece of fiction, its accurate depictions of reality are satirically integrated, clearly displaying the general traits of the conventional community’s stereotypical woman at its current epoch; although, this depiction could easily be traced through history to present day. Ranging from Catherine Morland with “her mind about as ignorant and

Stout 2 uninformed as the female mind at seventeen usually is,” to Mrs. Allen who “had no real intelligence to give,” each female character present in Northanger Abbey provides an oversimplified personality that can be perceived as a universal characteristic of the female gender (19,59). While these characterizations are overwhelmingly emphasized in the story, perhaps the most blatant of all of them is that of Mrs Allen whose vacancy of mind and incapacity for thinking were such, that as she never talked a great deal, so she could never be entirely silent; and, therefore,while she sat at her work, if she lost her needle or broke her thread, if she heard a carriage in the street, or saw a speck upon her gown, she must observe it aloud, whether there were any one at leisure to answer her or not. (59,60) This short description would suffice in analyzing the whole of her personality, or what Austen suggests is the typical married woman: an oblivious character who concerns herself with nothing more than her possessions, other people’s lives (gossip), and her appearance to observers. Her behavior, however, is not her fault, nor is it viewed as a negative one. Simply nothing more is expected out of her when she has already fulfilled all a woman needs to strive for, this being successfully marrying into wealth. Marriage, whether it be for economic benefits as is the more similar case described in the book, or just for a loving relationship, has been and always will be a very prominent feature among the greatest of a woman’s ambitions.

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As Isabella explains to Catherine, “...the man is supposed to provide for the support of the woman; the woman to make the home agreeable”; the dependence on a man for wealth is repaid by the woman keeping the house presentable, and also Isabella adds, a “smile” (75). This smile is a subtle yet strong piece of symbolism inserted by Austen. While a smile usually signifies happiness, this is a humble smile, symbolizing compliance, submission, and loyalty to the husband; it is not meant for the woman’s satisfaction, but is in fact only there to please the man. The male’s benefit, being the foremost in importance, demands a certain gain out of the woman for a marriage to be acceptable, this being portrayed in the novel through General Tilney’s desired circumstances for his childrens’ marriages. General Tilney clearly wanted some sort of financial gain out of Catherine when he planned for her to marry Henry. Hearing from John Thorpe that Mr Morland was a “man of substance and credit,” and the Morlands were a “necessitous family,” he set out to Northanger Abbey “Enraged with almost everybody in the world but himself” to send Catherine away from his family (229,230). His obsession with wealth, one commonly shown in countless men of the world, changes his perception of Catherine immediately from an ideal wife for Henry, to an unacceptable excuse for a partner who deserves nothing to do with his son. Ironically, when he finds out that the Morlands have more to offer, he agrees with the marriage. In this case, Catherine’s role was not to find love for Henry, but to add to General Tilney’s wealth through their union. What Austen is proposing is that a woman must also provide an adequate monetary compensation for marriage, which often dictates whether the matrimony is appropriate or not. The desires of the woman in a marriage are not accounted for, what matters is the gain of the males: the husband and the fathers; with no benefit for either usually comes no marriage. Stout 4

The male figure, especially the father, is almost always instinctually intimidating to any woman whose life meets his. General Tilney’s tyrannical figure, a frightening father figure, clearly emphasizes the male’s ability to control the female to meet his needs through a manipulation of the female’s fear. When Eleanor tells Catherine about her needing to leave, Catherine asks if she can come to visit her in Fullerton, to which Eleanor replies, “It will not be in my power, Catherine.” (210). Eleanor’s decision is not hers to make, it is her father’s, for she is too afraid to attempt to oppose him by trying to visit Catherine. Regardless of a woman’s desires or needs, if she faces any type of fear toward any man, this fear will overpower any free will within her to make her obey the man until it is safe to do otherwise. It is expected out of any weak willed girl to simply comply out of apprehension, which was first done by Eleanor in telling Catherine of her departure, yet also by Catherine when she did not even dare to ask the General if she had offended him. The simple idea that she had done anything was enough for her to be deathly afraid of talking to him about the subject. The best Catherine could do in this situation was similar to that of any women in such distress, to bottle up and attempt to hide her emotions until finding herself alone and free from sight, “...with this approach to his name ended all possibility of restraining her feelings; and, hiding her face as well as she could with her handkerchief, she darted across the hall, jumped into the chaise, and in a moment was driven from the door.” (214) It would be shameful for a woman to show her emotions so openly, at least in a stereotypical woman’s mind it would. Instead of trying to understand, the best a woman does is try to pretend like everything is fine, until finally she can cry indefinitely thinking back at the tragedy, wishing it could have been avoided, when in reality, it easily could have; the

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only problem being that the women do not control their actions, what is expected from them does. No matter how much one tries to avoid them, any living person will usually be held to and taken over by the societal norms placed upon them. The roles of gender in these “normalities” inevitably intertwine to generate countless stereotypes which, over time, become engraved as permanent parts of societies and cultures. These stereotypical views, particularly on women, through history became assumptions, and began to take over their lives. The roles of women in society have become the expectations placed upon them, not those they desire to achieve themselves. Jane Austen, in the book Northanger Abbey, illustrates the inferiority of women present within the perception and reality of the world; the control of a woman’s life is no longer her own, as it has been taken over by the need to fulfil society’s necessities. But even after understanding Northanger Abbey, one question remains. Is a woman’s freedom of choice truly taken away simply by the presumption it has been, or are women letting society dictate whether it has or has not? Word count: 1415

Works Cited: Austen, Jane. Northanger Abbey. New York: Knopf, 1992. Print....