Northanger Abbey:A Parody Of Gothic Novel

Being completed earlier but not published till after Austen's death,Northanger Abbey receives less attention and study compared with Austen's other five famous novels(Pride and Prejudice,Sense and Sensibility,Mansfield Park,Emma,Persuasion).The novel is mainly about the experience of the 17-year old heroine Catherine Morland,who accompanies Mrs.Allen to Bath for travelling,occasionally meets the gentle and quick-witted Henry Tilney at the party,and then is invited by the latter's father to be a guest at Northanger Abbey.The climax of the story focuses on a series of adventurous activities experienced by Catherine herself.Because many aspects in Northanger Abbey are analogous to those of Gothic novels,it arouses many controversies among researchers and critics,namely,whether Northanger Abbey is an imitation or a parody of Gothic novel,or simply a Gothic fiction itself.This paper holds the idea that Northanger Abbey,in a strict sense,is neither a simple romantic novel nor a typical realistic novel.It is actually a parody of the contemporary Gothic novels.Based on Catherine's stay at Bath and the Northanger Abbey and her self-discovery,the novel mildly mocks Gothic-novels' misleading representation of reality.The thesis mainly consists of the following parts.In the first chapter,a brief introduction about the writer and the novel is given.Meanwhile,the research question is proposed,the writing purpose and the frame of the whole thesis are also introduced.In the second chapter,based on the knowledge on Gothic theories and the reading of some typical Gothic novels,the writer of the thesis summarizes the main features(or elements)of Gothic fictions.And then,the research on Northanger Abbey,especially the research on its parody of Ann Radcliff's The Mysteries of Udolpho is analyzed in detail in the third chapter in terms of settings,characters,plots,themes,etc.In the fourth chapter,by thoroughly analyzing the previous chapters,this paper further explores reasons of such parody,which are based on the writer's own perspective for Gothic novels and Northanger Abbey's writing background.Last,the thesis summarizes in the conclusion that in parodying Gothic fictions through Northanger Abbey,Jane Austen attempts to mock Gothic novel's misrepresentation of reality and its possible misleading effects upon general readers,especially young female readers of her time,whose reading experiences play a very important role in their educational process.