On AntiGothicism in Northanger Abbey论《诺桑觉寺》的反哥特观念

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1、B. A. Thesis of Shandong University of Finance and Economics论诺桑觉寺的反哥特观念On Anti-Gothicism in Northanger Abbey AcknowledgementsIt would not be possible for me to complete the thesis without the generous help of many. First and foremost, I would like to take this opportunity to convey my sincere gratit

2、ude and appreciation to my supervisor Dr. Wang Junhua, under whose supervision I have obtained valuable ideas and precious suggestions. He is very intelligent on thesis instruction and also shows his great patience to me during my writing. I also want to thank all the teachers in the School of Forei

3、gn Studies of Shandong University of Finance and Economics for their beneficial courses I have attended during my college life. Besides, I owe my deep thanks to my roommates who have been encouraging me all the time, and to my colleagues at Jinan Longre Foreign Language Training Center who willingly

4、 took my part of duties so that I could have enough time for thesis writing. L. X. H. ABSTRACTOn Anti-Gothicism in Northanger AbbeyLi XiaohuiNorthanger Abbey, one of Jane Austens famous works, mainly tells the story of an innocent girl, a Gothic novel fan, who treats herself as the heroine of a Goth

5、ic novel and makes many ridiculous adventures by taking Gothic stories as real happenings, but finally learns to distinguish between the imaginary life in novels and the real life of her own. The novel criticizes the ridiculousness and meaninglessness of Gothic novels in a satirical way. The thesis

6、analyzes Austens parody of Gothic plot, characterization, and the heroines Gothic adventures in Northanger Abbey, and argues that the work reveals her anti-Gothicism through a comparison with the typical features of prevailing Gothic novels in her age.Key words: Northanger Abbey; Jane Austen; anti-G

7、othicism 摘要论诺桑觉寺的反哥特观念 诺桑觉寺是奥斯汀的一部著名作品。小说讲述了一位沉迷于哥特小说的天真女孩，把自己想象成作品的女主角，误把小说情节当做真实的生活，经历了一系列的荒谬历险；但她最终走出幻想，学会了分辨哥特小说的荒诞情节和现实生活的区别。小说以反讽的方式批评了哥特小说的可笑和荒诞。本文通过分析该小说对哥特式情节和人物的戏仿以及女主角的哥特式历险，并与当时盛行的哥特小说的典型特征相对比，认为奥斯汀通过诺桑觉寺表达了自己的反哥特观念。关键词：诺桑觉寺；奥斯汀；反哥特CONTENTSAcknowledgementsiiAbstract.iiiAbstract in Chines

8、eivIntroduction1Chapter One Gothic Novels and Northanger Abbey.3I. Origin and Development of Gothic Novels3II. Austens Attitude towards Gothic Novels5Chapter Two Parody of Gothic Plot and Characters.7I. Parody of Gothic Plot7II. Parody of Gothic Characters9Chapter Three Catherines Adventures11I. On

9、the Way to Northanger Abbey11II. Three Adventures in Northanger Abbey.12III. Catherines Coming back to Reality15Conclusion.16Works Cited.17 IntroductionJane Austen (17751817), who lived at the turn of the 18th and 19th century, is the most distinguished as well as the most widely read female novelis

10、t in British literature. She was born on December 16, 1775, at Steventon rectory in Hampshire, England, and died in Winchester on July 18, 1817, and was buried in Winchester Cathedral. Austen lives in a large family with six brothers and one sister. Her father, George Austen was a rector for much of

11、 his life. Her sister, Cassandra Elizabeth, was her best friend. She was educated primarily by her father and older brothers, and her own reading also helped a lot with her writing. During Austens education and writing life, her father was the most important guide, for he not only provided her with

12、a well-stocked family library, but also supported her writing with much effort. He had created a democratic and easy intellectual atmosphere at home. They often talked about different political or social ideas, and any personal opinions would be accepted and discussed. Jane Austen began to write whe

13、n she was only about thirteen and the everlasting support of her family was crucial to her development as a professional writer. Austens personal experiences have a great influence on her writing. “Of events her life was singularly barren: few changes and no great crisis even broke the smooth curren

14、t of its course” (James 11). Austens works are usually confined to a limited circle. In a letter to her nephew Edward, Austen made comments on her own work as “how could I possibly join them on to the little bit of Ivory on which I work with so fine a Brush, as produces little effect after much labo

15、r?” (Lefroy 160). Liu Bingshan appraised that “the comparison is true. The ivory surface is small enough, but the woman who made drawings of human life on it is a real artist” (309). Some critics accuse Jane Austen of writing with a narrow vision, and that her novels are all about love, marriage, mo

16、ney and rich relations, but Austens works show their values on reflecting the social realities of her day. As Zhang Dingquan and Wu Gang comment in their book that “her Jane Austens unique sensitivity to human emotions, her careful observation made her one of the finest novelists of the age” (202).A

17、usten wrote six complete novels during her literary career. They are: Sense and Sensibility (1811); Pride and Prejudice (1813); Mansfield Park (1814); Emma (1816); Northanger Abbey (1818); and Persuasion (1818). Her literary works have been attracting more and more readers from home and abroad since

18、 their publication. Jane Austen is considered as “a genius that appeals to any generation” (Qiao iv). The British female writer Virginia Woolf said that “of all great novelists, Jane Austen is the most difficult to catch in the act of greatness” (Zhu 5). The work discussed in this thesis is Northang

19、er Abbey, which tells a story of the naive protagonist with a very over-active imagination, Catherine Morland, a Gothic novel aficionado, who treats herself as the heroine of a Gothic novel, takes stories in Gothic novels as happened in her real life and makes many ridiculous adventures, but finally

20、 learns to distinguish between the imaginary life in Gothic novels and her own ordinary life situations. Although Northanger Abbey was the first to be completed by Jane Austen, it had neither been given enough attention nor been adequately studied for some considerable time in the past. In fact, Nor

21、thanger Abbey has its unique research value, particularly the authors attitude towards Gothic novels, which has aroused more and more critical attention and debates in recent years (see Chapter One). This thesis argues that Northanger Abbey shows Jane Austens anti-Gothicism through her satirical cri

22、ticism of the prevailing Gothic novels in her times. In addition to Introduction and Conclusion, the thesis consists of three chapters. The first chapter briefly introduces Gothic novels, illustrates different viewpoints on the relationship between Northanger Abbey and Gothic novels as discussed by

23、some critics and scholars. The second chapter analyses Jane Austens parodic anti-Gothicism by comparing the plot arrangement and characterization of the novel with that of Gothic novels. The third chapter discusses Jane Austens criticism of Gothic novels through focusing on Catherines ridiculous adv

24、entures.Chapter One Gothic Novels and Northanger AbbeyNorthanger Abbey is a parody of Gothic novels. The first part of this chapter briefly introduces the origin, development and typical features of Gothic novels; the second part mainly illustrates different viewpoints on Austens attitude towards Go

25、thic novels.I. Origin and Development of Gothic NovelsThe word “Goth,” coming from the name of an ancient tribe in Europe, and its derivative form “Gothic,” which reminds people of mysticism, terror, and dark, were frequently used to describe medieval things in the 18th century. According to a highl

26、y-popular dictionary, the word “Gothic” means a kind of architecture built in the style that was popular in Western Europe from the 12th century to the 16th centuries, and which has pointed arches, windows, and tall thin pillars and a novel written in the style popular in the 18th and 19th centuries

27、, which described romantic adventures in mysterious or frightening surroundings. (Hornby 883) Now it generally refers to a genre of literature, which is “full of depicts of murders and supernatural things to thrill readers” (Han 36), combines both horror and romance and “deals with the strange, myst

28、erious, and supernatural designed to invoke suspense and terror in readers” (Zhao 283). From the above quotes, it is known that some basic elements in Gothic novels include: setting in a castle, which often contains secret passages and staircases, dark or hidden rooms; an atmosphere of mystery and s

29、uspense that arouses fear and terror; supernatural events, such as ghosts or unknown giants coming to human life; high and overwrought emotion, like anger, sorrow, especially terror from which the characters suffer; heroine in distress, which appeals to the sympathy of the readers; and romance, such

30、 as powerful love between the heroine and the hero.The first Gothic novel is The Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story, written by the English author Horace Walpole. The work is remarkable because it is the first attempt to find “a tale of amusing fiction upon the basis of the ancient romance of chivalr

31、y” (Walter 115) and it “starts a fashion and sets an example for other Gothic novelists” (Zhang 5). In addition, the novel was “an attempt to blend the two kinds of romance, the ancient and the modern” (Horace 19). Horace Walpole opens the door of Gothic novels and a lot of other Gothic novelists fo

32、llow suit. Among them, Ann Radcliff and Mathew Gregory Lewis are two most famous ones for their respective work The Mysteries of Udolpho and The Monk. The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), through which Ann Radcliff made the Gothic novel socially acceptable, was an unparalleled success at that time, and

33、was also frequently referred to by Jane Austen in Northanger Abbey. In the mid-1790s the Gothic novel reaches its summit, and David Punder comments, probably an exaggeration, that “this body of fiction may well have established the popularity of the novel-form” (David 61). Besides its popularity amo

34、ng the public, the Gothic novel has a notorious fame for a long time and has been criticized as crude by many critics. In the preface of Lyrical Ballads, Wordsworth commented on Gothic novels as:The invaluable works of Shakespeare and Milton are driven into neglect by frantic novels, sickly and stup

35、id German Tragedies, and deluges of idle and extravagant stories in verse. (Wordsworth and Coleridge 248-249)In spite of criticism from many literary figures, Gothic novels still attracted a lot of readers and the Gothic influence was amazingly continuing. “It has been estimated that the reading pop

36、ulation of Britain increased from one and a half million in 1780 to between seven and eight million by 1830” (Lin 24), and “Gothic novels have exerted significant influence on the literature of later generations and on every European literature. They have exerted great effect on the American literat

37、ure, Hawthorn and Allen Poe in particular” (Zhao 283). It is not so hard for us to find out that many works of great literary celebrities bear Gothic elements. In the Romantic period, some famous works are: Percy Bysshe Shelleys first published work, Zastrozzi (1810), was publicly-known as a Gothic

38、novel; Mary Shelleys Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus (1818); Coleridges The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798) and Christabel (1816); Keats La Belle Dame sans Merci (1819) and Isabella (1820); and The Vampyre (1819) by John William Polidori. Charlotte Bronts Jane Eyre (1847) and Emily Bronts

39、 Wuthering Heights (1847) are also acknowledged as Gothic novels as well as Elizabeth Gaskells tales “The Doom of the Griffiths” (1858), “Lois the Witch” (1861), and “The Grey Woman” (1861). Charles Dickens is another mainstream writers heavily influenced by Gothic novels. In his great works, such a

40、s Oliver Twist (1837-8), Bleak House (1854), Great Expectations (1861) and The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1870), we can easily feel the Gothic mood and themes. Edgar Allan Poe was a prominent and innovative re-interpreter of Gothic literature in the 19th century American literature, with his well-known

41、 works as The Fall of the House of Usher (1839), “The Black Cat” (1843), and “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841).II. Austens Attitude towards Gothic Novels“The excesses, stereotypes, and frequent absurdities of the traditional Gothic made it rich territory for satire” (Skarda 178-179). As it is u

42、niversally acknowledged, the most famous parody of Gothic novels is Northanger Abbey. We all say that Northanger Abbey is a parody of Gothic novels, but disagree on Austens attitude towards them. Some critics hold that Northanger Abbey offers a refinement on rather than denial of the Gothic: “Gothic

43、 elements in the novel are employed to express Austens feminist ideas rather than mock them” (Chen ii); “Through parody, Austen revises Gothic novels in a comic way for the purpose of negotiation with Gothic novels, as well as inheritance and preservation” (Zheng 89). However, some others argue that

44、 Austen shows her sarcasm towards Gothic novels and emphasizes reason and realism: “Northanger Abbey also satirized the sentimental novels, especially the Gothic novel, which was very popular at that time” (Yang 66), and “the mock of Gothic novels runs through the novel from beginning to end” (Sun 3

45、6). Northanger Abbey expresses Austens sarcasm on prevailing Gothic novels, especially The Mysteries of Udolpho, which has been mentioned several times in the work. With a close reading of Northanger Abbey, we can easily find the Gothic craze surrounding it. First of all, Northanger Abbey shares sim

46、ilar plot construction with the prevailing Gothic novels; secondly, it contains a parodic characterization of Gothic novels; thirdly, they all describe the female protagonists adventures and her love romance with the male protagonist eventually obtained. Additionally, Jane Austen adopts a new tactic

47、 of writing novels in Northanger Abbey by addressing the reader directly. We can feel the sense of satire in reading the work. The following chapter deals with its plot construction and characterization to show Jane Austens anti-Gothicism.Chapter TwoParody of Gothic Plot and CharactersIn this chapte

48、r, we mainly examine Austens parody of Gothic novels through comparing the plot construction and characterization of Northanger Abbey with that of Gothic novels. The novel seemingly imitates the construction of Gothic novels, but it actually satirizes their format of developing stories and depicting

49、 characters.I.Parody of Gothic Plot The widely spread Gothic novels then were sharing almost the same format. A noble heroine, who is very beautiful and intelligent and loves music and drawing, for some reasons leaves her own home to a completely new place, usually a haunted castle, where she experi

50、ences horrible and scaring things or being treated unfairly and cruelly. But there often appears an unknown hero who saves the heroine and challenges the villains. They would be together at the end of the story after so many hardships. Northanger Abbey seemingly follows the common format. The heroin

51、e, Catherine Morland, leaves her hometown for a new place, Bath, and meets with the hero, Henry Tilney. After undergoing some adventures and distress, the loved ones are finally reunited and get married. However, Jane Austen actually starts making a sharp mockery on Gothic novels from the beginning

52、of Northanger Abbey. Different from the Gothic heroine, Catherine Morland is a very common English girl, who was born in an ordinary family with her father as a clergyman and her mother a woman of plain sense. She neither had a beautiful figure nor high intelligence. In fact, before she turned fifte

53、en, Catherine had “a thin awkward figure, a sallow skin without colour, dark lank hair, and strong features” (3; ch.1). Instead of music or drawing, Catherine was a tomboy and was very fond of boys plays, especially cricket, and loved rolling down the green slope at the back of their house. Judging

54、by these descriptions, we can see that Catherines situation in life, her family, her own personality and disposition are all against a real heroine in Gothic novels: “No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy, would have supposed her born to be a heroine” (3; ch.1). Through the chara

55、cterization of the heroine, Jane Austen actually criticizes the general expectations of a well-mannered gentle lady in Gothic novels. Then the heroine begins her adventure to Bath. In Gothic novels, the heroines parents should be very worried and severely anxious or in tears with sadness when she is

56、 about to leave home. Nevertheless, Catherines mother was not like that: she just reminded her daughter of wrapping herself warm and trying to keep account of the money, and her father only put ten guineas into her hand and promised more when she wanted it. During their journey to Bath, nothing alar

57、ming occurred to them except Mrs. Allens having left her clogs at an inn which later on was proved groundless. “Neither robbers nor tempests befriended them, nor one lucky overturn to introduce them to the hero” (11; ch.2). 注意前两段文学作品的引文格式要求：（页码; 章）。Austen satirizes the expected appearance of the her

58、o to the heroine in Gothic fictions. Henry just appears on an ordinary ball and is introduced to Catherine by the master of the ceremonies in a normal way without any air of romance. Henry, at first, was even partly joking with Catherine about the same routing that young ladies share. Later, Catheri

59、ne makes friends with Isabella Thorpe, who is an elegant and fine young woman, and they both consider themselves as old friends. It is Isabella who opens the Gothic gate for Catherine by introducing to her tens of horrible novels; one of them is The Mysteries of Udolpho. After reading so many Gothic

60、 novels, Catherines eagerness to visit and explore a real castle grows severe. Therefore, she feels extremely excited when General Tilney, Henrys father, invites her to visit their house, the Northanger Abbey.Additionally, there is one point we should pay attention to, i.e., Jane Austen has adopted

61、a new tactic of writing by addressing the readers directly. For example, at the end of chapter five, when Isabella and Catherine shut themselves up to read novels, the narrator clearly says that “novels have afforded more extensive and unaffected pleasure than those of any other literary corporation

62、 in the world” (32; ch.5), and that novels are worksin which the greatest powers of the mind are displayed, in which the most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit and humour are conveyed to the world in the best chosen language

63、. (33; ch.5) Here Austen gives her own insight of the value of novels, and questions the social prejudice against novels. The directness with which Austen addresses the reader gives a unique insight into Austens thoughts at the time. And her perspectives on novels are sharply in contrast with that o

64、f popular writers, especially the Gothic novelists of the time. II.Parody of Gothic CharactersAccording to the common rule, Gothic novels not only have a set format in plot construction, but also share the same characterization. Below are some classified major characters around the heroine in Gothic novels: an aunt or another older woman of envy; a hero with an air of mystery; a female friend harbors evil intentions; a villain who is always bothering the heroine; a tyrant, usually cold and vicious, treats the heroine c