Book Thoughts: Heroines in Northanger Abbey and Austen's Satire

Austen gives a smile to her reader right at the beginning of Northanger Abbey when she brings a sense of reality to the definition of a heroine as portrayed by many authors of Gothic novels in her time.  She begins by first giving a wonderful tongue-in-cheek description of what heroic characteristics Catherine is lacking (in the Gothic sense).  

A heroine, as satirized by Austen in chapter one, first must have parents who are poor, handsome, lacking in sense and in a healthful constitution, be short-tempered, and given to such tactics as locking up their daughters.  The heroine herself must not be plain-looking nor given to mischievousness.  As a child she should enjoy feeding birds and watering roses.  A heroine is able to learn intuitively and be accomplished in music and drawing.  

As a child, Catherine shows none of the characteristics of such a heroine.  Not only does she show little aptitude and no application for studying music or drawing, she is only interested in reading story books that require little reflection.   She plays at cricket, rides horses, is not overly concerned with cleanliness, and is mischievous.   Catherine’s father is characterized as respectable, plain, and possessed with an independent living.  By being told he did not lock up his daughters we are led to believe he is kind and the rest of the book bears this out.  Her mother is characterized as having good sense, a good temper, and a good constitution. She has a large family and enjoys them without imposing an iron will.  

Interspersed in this description of Catherine’s lack of heroic qualities Austen is able to give us a glimpse of what she considers to be true qualities of a heroine, as opposed to the description she used in her satirical description of a heroine.  We are told Catherine has a good heart, a good temper, is not quarrelsome or stubborn, and shows kindness to others.   As Catherine’s character develops throughout the story we also see she is honest and unaffected – further examples of good qualities for a heroine.  

Between the ages of 15 and 17 she shows more promise in becoming a heroine.  She takes more care about her appearance and curls her hair and enjoys finery.  She enlarges the scope of her reading to include such authors as Gray, Thompson, Pope, and Shakespeare (although Austen continues to use satire in the fact that Catherine either remembers what is has read incorrectly or out of context.  I think this is a great touch of humor.).  She develops an appreciation for music, although she still does not play herself.  Her continued defects in her development as a heroine are in the areas of drawing and in not attracting the attention of any potential lovers. 

Catherine’s development as a heroine is largely left to own inclination as her mother, although a caring woman, is cumbered with caring for several younger children and cannot devote much time to Catherine’s education.  Her parents do have a limited influence on her development: her father and mother both give her some lessons and she has access to a music teacher for the short time she wants to study.  For the most part, however, Catherine is left to her own devices and her greatest outside influences are books (although often read without great understanding).