"Northanger Abbey now strikes me far less as a Gothic takedown than an impassioned defense of novels writ large." Yes! Somehow Austen manages to have it both ways (the passages in which Catherine comes to her senses and rejects the manicheism of the Gothic novel are counterbalanced by all of the praise of Gothic novels from Henry and others, including Austen herself--and the word where all of this comes together for me is the adjective "charming" used to describe Mrs. Radcliffe's productions, a word both damning and condescending and yet also potentially if mildly complimentary in a genuine way)
Your model has called to my attention for the first time ever Lord ___, and his function in the novel (which I take you to be suggesting is at least partly to ensure that the General can grudgingly allow his son to marry Catherine). Looking forward to Persuasion.
Wait do you think “charming” is also a half-indictment of “the most charming man in the world”? I agree with his function in the novel in bringing off Henry & Catherine’s marriage, but I read his perfection as genuine—if also a transparent function of his distance and artificial construction. He can be perfect precisely because he is more plot device than character!
I hadn't considered that... I don't know... Maybe I'm accentuating (or projecting) the condescension in "charming" when applied to Radcliffe. It may be that, as far as "charming" goes, it is for Austen pure praise, though I tend to think in the context it can only mean something pleasing but, relatively speaking, of lesser consequence. Or else the semantic charge of "charming" could, as distance diminishes, acquire slight overtones of irony with respect to Radcliffe inasmuch as her novels play such a central role.
i love having discovered something like this has been written. i had no idea someone might do it and it's so great. and fun. thanks.
The main conclusion is that I really need to read Northanger Abbey.
Perfectly said.
"Northanger Abbey now strikes me far less as a Gothic takedown than an impassioned defense of novels writ large." Yes! Somehow Austen manages to have it both ways (the passages in which Catherine comes to her senses and rejects the manicheism of the Gothic novel are counterbalanced by all of the praise of Gothic novels from Henry and others, including Austen herself--and the word where all of this comes together for me is the adjective "charming" used to describe Mrs. Radcliffe's productions, a word both damning and condescending and yet also potentially if mildly complimentary in a genuine way)
Your model has called to my attention for the first time ever Lord ___, and his function in the novel (which I take you to be suggesting is at least partly to ensure that the General can grudgingly allow his son to marry Catherine). Looking forward to Persuasion.
Wait do you think “charming” is also a half-indictment of “the most charming man in the world”? I agree with his function in the novel in bringing off Henry & Catherine’s marriage, but I read his perfection as genuine—if also a transparent function of his distance and artificial construction. He can be perfect precisely because he is more plot device than character!
I hadn't considered that... I don't know... Maybe I'm accentuating (or projecting) the condescension in "charming" when applied to Radcliffe. It may be that, as far as "charming" goes, it is for Austen pure praise, though I tend to think in the context it can only mean something pleasing but, relatively speaking, of lesser consequence. Or else the semantic charge of "charming" could, as distance diminishes, acquire slight overtones of irony with respect to Radcliffe inasmuch as her novels play such a central role.