The Annotated Northanger Abbey

by Jane Austen

  6. Wealthy families usually had underground vaults beneath the local church, where their members would be buried; very wealthy ones might even construct a special chapel, below which the vault would lie. “Ashes” here is used figuratively to mean physical remains, a usage found elsewhere at this time; cremation of the dead, which would produce literal ashes, was not then legal in England. (It was not until 1902, almost exactly a century after this novel was completed, that the British Parliament passed a law permitting cremation.)

  7. The horror behind the black veil in The Mysteries of Udolpho, which so aroused Catherine’s curiosity earlier (this page), turns out to be the disintegrating, worm-eaten wax figure of a corpse.

  8. In Udolpho the heroine’s uncanny resemblance to a deceased aunt plays an important role in the plot.

  9. likeness: resemblance.

  10. great: large or long.

  11. sedate: calm, composed.

  Ancient tombs, a popular feature of horror novels.

  [From James Merigot, The Amateur’s Portfolio, or the New Drawing Magazine, Vol. II (London, 1815–1816), No. 12, Plate 3]

  [List of Illustrations]

  12. Thus all the activities just described have occurred before breakfast, which among the upper class was not usually eaten until mid-morning (the standard time in many households).

  13. character: reputation.

  14. policy: cunning or crafty strategy.

  15. office: natural duty or service (to another).

  A contemporary bedroom. Bedrooms often contained a variety of furniture.

  [From Chandler R. Clifford, Period Furnishings (New York, 1922), p. 194]

  [List of Illustrations]

  16. Six o’clock is the approximate time of sunset at this location in mid- to late March, when this episode occurs. Jane Austen always takes pains to be accurate on such matters.

  17. Catherine would need to go to her room to dress for dinner, which takes place at five o’clock at the Tilneys’.

  18. Dimity is a sturdy cotton with a woven pattern that was often used for bedspreads. It came into widespread use in the eighteenth century. The presence of dimity here marks the modernity of the room, as do the other features described subsequently—in sharp contrast to Catherine’s medieval imaginings.

  19. A Bath stove is a large grate that goes in the opening of a fireplace; it is very similar to what would later be called a hob grate. Bath stoves had appeared in the second half of the eighteenth century and represented an improvement in fireplace design, though they did not work as efficiently as the more recent Rumford stove or fireplace (see note 56). Since the latter had appeared only a few years earlier, after Mrs. Tilney’s death, there would have been no reason to install one in this room.

  20. Mahogany, a wood from the West Indies, was first introduced as a material for furniture in the early eighteenth century, and by the second half of the century it had become the most prized of all furniture woods.

  21. Painted furniture was popular in the eighteenth century, especially for smaller pieces. It could also be found in previous centuries, though the author may associate it less with earlier times since the antique pieces she had seen would likely have lost their paint, due to fading or to removal after becoming chipped.

  22. Sash windows, which open up and down, first came into fashion in the eighteenth century.

  23. These are dressing rooms (see note 35). “Closet” then still mostly meant a small room; one of Jane Austen’s letters indicates this, while also suggesting the beginning of the current meaning, when she refers to “a Closet full of Shelves—so full indeed that there is nothing else in it, & should therefore be called a Cupboard rather than a Closet I suppose” (May 17, 1799).

  24. sue: plead, entreat.

  25. The speed and efficiency of the mail and the proximity of Northanger to Bath mean that if Isabella had written immediately as promised, the letter should have arrived by now. It could even have come the previous day, for the postal service operated on Sunday.

  The College of Physicians (see note 28).

  [From Fiona St. Aubyn, Ackermann’s Illustrated London, illustrations by Augustus Pugin and Thomas Rowlandson (Ware, 1985), p. 91]

  [List of Illustrations]

  26. “Seizure” then usually meant a stroke, but it could refer to other severe attacks, as it probably does in this case.

  27. “Bilious fever” was used to describe a severe illness characterized by high fever, vomiting, diarrhea, and (often) rapid death; in this case, Mrs. Tilney may have suffered from similar symptoms before, whether or not they really stemmed from the same underlying cause (means of identifying disease then were based purely on symptoms, due to ignorance of microorganisms). Cholera and typhoid fever are among the ailments that were labeled bilious fevers. The term derives from traditional physiological theories of the four humors, or vital bodily fluids: blood, phlegm, yellow bile (or choler), and black bile. A balance between the humors was thought to promote good health, while an excess of one caused disease; bilious diseases resulted from excess yellow bile. By this time the theory of the humors had ceased to dominate medical thinking, but many of its terms and modes of analysis persisted. One of those was the tendency to regard specific ailments as symptomatic of a general defect or disorder in the sufferer. This, in addition to her previous suffering, is why Henry speaks of his mother’s malady as “constitutional.”

  28. A physician was the highest-ranking medical man, the only one who had received a formal medical education and who was regarded as a gentleman (the other two types of medical practitioners were apothecaries and surgeons). Physicians, who were few in number and concentrated in towns and cities, were especially likely to attend those experiencing serious ailments, and were mostly employed by the affluent. Jane Austen, when suffering the illness that killed her, was sent by her family to Winchester to be treated by a physician there. Bringing in three physicians for a patient, especially in a rural location, would be unusual, a sign both of wealth and of a determination to employ any means possible to find a cure.

  29. By “situation in life” Henry means Mrs. Tilney’s social and economic position, which allowed her to be so carefully attended.

  30. A letter would have taken at least a day to reach Eleanor, even if she were close, and she could probably have achieved at most a hundred miles a day in traveling back home.

  31. Henry’s hesitation shows him struggling with how to reconcile stating the full truth, which would necessitate criticizing his father, and maintaining the proper familial respect.

  32. disposition: character.

  33. temper: disposition.

  34. value: regard.

  35. The belief that the current age was one of progress and advancement was widespread at the time in Britain. The establishment in the political realm of a stable government that also permitted substantial liberty, the significant increase in prosperity over the previous century, the ascendance of Britain to a position of economic and political primacy, the advancement of education and learning, and new technical improvements were all among the factors cited by those affirming the superiority of the era. Many thinkers developed systematic theories of progress, based on extensive analysis of long-standing historical trends and often including projections of further advances in the future. Voices of dissent regarding these ideas also appeared, but they were in the minority. Austen’s youthful work “Catharine, or the Bower” describes a continual argument between a member of the House of Commons and an elderly lady, in which the former lauds the present state of Britain and the latter laments its supposed decay (though with “perhaps less argument” on her side).

  36. Christianity, which was firmly established as the official religion of England, was central to the nation’s sense of identity, and theories of progress often stressed the moral superiority of Christian countries over others. The English also had a strong sense of the traditions and laws that distinguished them from all other countries, and gave them particular adv
antages.

  37. This intercourse, which included the increased ease and speed of travel and increased consumption of the many publications pouring from the press, would both subject people more to the influence of social opinion and render them less able to hide actions that violated social norms. A prominent aspect of English culture in the eighteenth century was the belief in and encouragement of polite socializing as an improving force.

  38. Newspapers covered a wide variety of topics, including crimes.

  39. admitting: allowing yourself to entertain.

  VOLUME II, CHAPTER X

  1. romance: Romantic fiction, especially of a fantastical or extravagant kind (see note 12).

  2. late: recent.

  3. Catherine’s extreme misery bears resemblance to the intense sufferings of the Gothic heroines she has been identifying with, but in her case the misery stems from ordinary folly of her own, rather than from extraordinary travails inflicted by others.

  4. wanted: needed.

  5. Henry’s tenderness toward her, which will continue, probably results not only from his natural generosity and his affection for Catherine, but also from a sense of personal responsibility in encouraging her foolish fantasies by the scenario he created, for the sake of his own amusement, on the ride to Northanger.

  6. transpire: become known, be revealed.

  A castle in the remote, mountainous location favored by Gothic tales like Udolpho.

  [From James Merigot, The Amateur’s Portfolio, or the New Drawing Magazine, Vol. I (London, 1815–1816), No. 5, Plate 4]

  [List of Illustrations]

  7. mischief: harm, damage. The term often had a stronger and more serious connotation than today.

  8. Radcliffe’s novels mention the pine forests of the Alps and the Pyrenees in their lengthy descriptions of those places’ beauties.

  9. The incongruous juxtaposition of “pine forests” and “vices” mocks the implicit connection drawn in many Gothic novels between exotic settings and landscapes (England’s forests are primarily deciduous) and the evils purported to take place in them. Thus, even while rejecting her extreme folly, Catherine is far from attaining a fully rational perspective.

  10. The northern and far western parts of England have the roughest terrain, and the north has long been poorer and less populated than the rest of the country.

  11. Though servants were expected to exhibit deference toward their employers, and might feel an almost feudal identification with them, they were completely free legally, and many proved as willing to leave a position for better opportunities as did people in other lines of work.

  12. Rhubarb was commonly used as an emetic, and purging people through such means was employed to treat a variety of ills.

  13. The idea of a mixture of good and bad in all people is fundamental to Jane Austen’s work. She never makes even her worst characters terrible in everything they do, nor does she avoid attributing at least some flaw to her best. In this she differs from many novels of her day, which deliberately contrast absolutely good and absolutely evil characters, and from most contemporary commentators, who—while admitting that such characters were unnatural—declared that the moral message and impact of a novel is better served by presenting the purist examples of good behavior and the most loathsome examples of bad behavior. Although Austen always followed a moral purpose in her own work, she responded to such a view, and the many sermonizing novels that exemplified it, in her satirical “Plan of a Novel,” which sketches a story containing the worst novelistic failings she could assemble. Its plot, Austen writes, “will of course exhibit a wide variety of Characters—but there will be no mixture; the scene will be for ever shifting from one Set of People to another—but all the Good will be unexceptionable in every respect—and there will be no foibles or weaknesses but with the Wicked, who will be completely depraved & infamous, hardly a resemblance of Humanity left in them.”

  14. amiable: kind, benevolent, good-natured.

  15. succeed to: take the place of.

  16. Catherine was earlier shown taking out a netting box (this page). Isabella will eventually write to her, but although it is a long letter, netting cotton is never mentioned in it (see this page).

  17. dependence: source (on which one relies).

  18. In fact, Isabella, while frequently proclaiming grand intentions, has shown no scruples at all about violating them.

  19. The letter would have been received by a servant and presented to the family, or most likely to General Tilney, who would then have passed it on to Henry; the General could have done so because his wish of promoting a romantic match makes him prefer to have his son rather than his daughter give their guest a desired object.

  20. direction: address. Letters then contained no return address, but she could see the handwriting of the person who wrote her name and current address.

  Oxford.

  [From A. D. Godley, Oxford in the Eighteenth Century (New York, 1908), frontispiece]

  [List of Illustrations]

  21. Captain Tilney’s potential announcement of the engagement at Northanger is the “[an]other quarter” that James has above suggested will shortly inform Catherine of the source of the blame.

  22. In fact, the proofs Isabella offered consisted more of fulsome declarations than tender behavior. This statement, like the previous one above about John Thorpe’s “honest heart,” shows that James shares much of his sister’s naïveté about other people.

  23. played off: used in opposition.

  24. Women’s dresses, especially the less formal ones worn during the day, sometimes had pockets in them.

  25. Hot cocoa, though less popular than tea or coffee, was drunk by some people at the time, especially with breakfast.

  Young men at Oxford.

  [From William Combe, The History of Johnny Quae Genus (London, 1822; 1903 reprint), p. 42]

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  26. violence: constraint.

  27. use: benefit.

  28. should: would.

  29. Catherine means that they will know when they hear of their brother’s engagement.

  30. Henry’s recognition of these characteristics in her has affinities with Pride and Prejudice, in which the hero first notes the good qualities of the heroine when he witnesses her assiduous concern for her ill sister.

  A drawing room of the time.

  [From John Swarbrick, Robert Adam and his Brothers (New York, 1915), p. 64]

  [List of Illustrations]

  31. Catherine is still reluctant to reveal her news, though she here gives Henry the clue that allows him to unravel it.

  32. work: needlework.

  33. In fact, when they talked in Bath, Henry made some statements indicating his doubts about Isabella’s loyalty, though his own lack of certain knowledge, and his wish not to alarm Catherine, kept him from doing more than hinting (see this page and this page).

  34. material: essential.

  35. The last line is where James warns Catherine about giving her heart to someone, a point she finds embarrassing to allow Henry to read.

  36. Henry knows how severe his father can be toward his children, a severity he would exercise to the full if a child chose a mate he did not approve of.

  37. connections: family connections, i.e., relations.

  38. Eleanor is asking standard questions that almost anyone would under the circumstances, due to the importance of social ties and position in this society.

  39. She assumes Isabella’s father is dead because Catherine mentioned only her mother in her reply. Since a father’s status determined the social position of his children, he would have been described in answer to Eleanor’s first question, if he were living.

  40. A lawyer could be either an attorney or a barrister. An attorney, who could not try cases in court and usually dealt in property transactions, would not have received a formal legal education and was not considered a gentleman. If Mr. Thorpe had been an attorney, his children would be of a d
istinctly lower rank than Catherine or the Allens, and this probably would have provoked comment, and perhaps kept Mrs. Allen from associating with Mrs. Thorpe. A barrister, who could argue in court and was formally educated, was a gentleman, though many who pursued the profession made little money, for every barrister was mainly on his own to drum up business, and those without good connections or special talents found that difficult. Almost all barristers were based in London, and Putney is a few miles outside of the capital.

  41. During his first appearance in the novel, their brother displayed an attitude of arrogance and contempt (this page).

  42. presumption: supposition or argument (based on past evidence).

  43. understanding: intelligence, judgment.

  44. open: frank, sincere.

  45. candid: generous, inclined to think well of others.

  46. Though representing the exact opposite of Isabella, this list actually provides an excellent description of Catherine.

  47. Baronet was the highest social title below that of lord (lords included barons, viscounts, earls, marquesses, and dukes). A baronet had the right to be known as “Sir,” and his wife the right to be called “Lady,” and unlike a knight, who enjoyed the same privilege, his right passed from generation to generation. Henry may have chosen a baronet rather than a lord to make his point because baronets were more common, and because an engagement between the penniless Isabella and a lord would stretch the bounds of plausibility even further. A mark of the difference between baronets and lords is that while no lord ever appears in Austen’s novels as a speaking character, three baronets do, including the heads of the principal families in both Mansfield Park and Persuasion.