SPOILERS!!!
Catherine arrives in Northanger Abbey, and her imagination takes flight. The fact that the Tilneys' home is an old abbey combined with her interest in gothic novel makes her entertain some far-fetched ideas. In her room she finds an old trunk and a cabinet which she thinks may hide some mystery. Everything she finds is average or has a logical explanation. However, she starts thinking that General Tilney must have murdered his wife as his attitude towards his daughter is not too warm, and Eleanor mentions being away when her mother died all of a sudden. General Tilney suspiciously restricts the access to some rooms, including the room where Mrs Tilney died. So Catherine decides to sneak into it when she knows the general is out. The room has nothing odd, and when she leaves it, Henry Tilney sees her, and on questioning her, he realises that Catherine has jumpled to ridiculous assumptions, which Catherine has to admit when Henry gives her all the details of his mother's death.
Catherine is perplexed that Isabella hasn't written, and then she gets a letter from her brother James, who tells her that he has broken his engagement to Isabella, as the young woman has transferred her affections to Captain Tilney, Henry and Eleanor's older brother. Catherine is distraught and eventually tells Eleanor and Henry about their brother, and Henry tells her that knowing his brother he can't be that interested. Then Catherine gets a letter from Isabella, saying that James has been mistaken about her and Captain Tilney, and she begs Catherine to write to James. Catherine realises that her friend is not truthful, and she does not write back or write to her brother.
Catherine is enjoying her stay at Northanger Abbey but she doesn't want to overstay her welcome, so she tells Eleanor, but her friend begs her to stay a bit longer. General Tilney has gone to London, and he returns earlier than he was expected. That night Eleanor goes to see Catherine in her room, feeling out of sorts. She tells her that her father wants Catherine gone and it needs to be the next day and he has no intention to send a servant to make sure that Catherine is safe. Eleanor is too mortified to tell Catherine the reason why her father is offended and angry.
The next day Catherine leaves Northanger Abbey, feeling hurt and confused, and when she reaches home, she tells her parents what has happened, and her mother praises how she has been able to come out of the situation unscathed. A few days later Henry Tilney appears, and he comes to explain why her father behaved so rudely towards Catherine. Apparently, while in Bath General Tilney came across John Thorpe, who told him that Catherine was a rich heiress who expected to inherit the estate of the Allens, who were childless. That is why he was so happy to invite Catherine to Northanger Abbey because he wanted his son to marry Catherine. Then in London he ran into John Thorpe again and he put it right about Catherine's lack of money, and furious he came home and had Catherine out of his home. Tilney apologises and feels terrible about the way Catherine was treated.
Catherine and Henry Tilney eventually marry, and the reason why his father agreed to their marriage was that Eleanor married someone rich, which was enough for him, so he did not care any longer who Henry married.
I liked the book, but it was not as good as others by Jane Austen, probably because this was the first one she wrote.
No comments:
Post a Comment