Northanger Abbey

Content levels

Trigger warnings

Positive tags

Hero archetypes

Heroine archetypes

Protagonist archetypes

Tropes

Themes

Synopsis

Northanger Abbey is both a perfectly aimed literary parody and a withering satire of the commercial aspects of marriage among the English gentry at the turn of the nineteenth century. But most of all, it is the story of the initiation into life of its naïve but sweetly appealing heroine, Catherine Morland, a willing victim of the contemporary craze for Gothic literature who is determined to see herself as the heroine of a dark and thrilling romance. When Catherine is invited to Northanger Abbey, the grand though forbidding ancestral seat of her suitor, Henry Tilney, she finds herself embroiled in a real drama of misapprehension, mistreatment, and mortification, until common sense and humor—and a crucial clarification of Catherine’s financial status—puts all to right. Written in 1798 but not published until after Austen’s death in 1817, Northanger Abbey is characteristically clearheaded and strong, and infinitely subtle in its comedy.

Is Northanger Abbey appropriate for my child?

Suitable for most readers 13 and up.

A gentle, witty satire of Gothic novels and social conventions with no violence, language, or sexual content. The humor and social commentary may require some maturity to fully appreciate.

Tags