Video 1: Jane AustenHello and welcome to week four, a novel, which is Jane Austen's, Northanger Abbey. Uh, in this, uh, session, we're going to talk about, uh, the Gothic party. Um, which is what I'm not trying to Abby is. I'm not saying that Abby is, uh, got the pattern today. Um, Jane Austin satirizes, um, this, uh, in a huge obsession with, uh, Gothic novels in the late 18th century and early 19th century.So before we move on to the idea of the Gothic parody and, um, The variations of it, uh, in terms of how, uh, the critics approach, the concept of God, the parity, uh, that is seen in Northanger Abbey, let's first look at, uh, Jane Austin and her context and the kind of works that she wrote. Jane Austin lived in turbulent times.She was born on 17th, December 17, 75, the year in which the American war of independence commenced, more of England was threatened with revolution and was at war for a large part of Austin's adult life. You can see that various Wars listed against the timeline of Jane Austin. Um, when she was born, the American war of independence began.So. American was trying to become independent from the mother country, great Britain. And, um, there was this, um, war going on. Um, the long war with France was going on during her lifetime. And we can see, um, minor references to the war. For example, in persuasion, we have the Naval men, uh, being, um, used as significant characters in that, uh, fiction.So, uh, even though Jane Austin doesn't, um, Do a lot of political fiction, there are minor references to the militia, to the Naval folks. Uh, for example, in pride and prejudice, there is a reference to the militia, a and M as Bennett's sister falls in love with one of the military men. And, uh, and, uh, the consequences are not very ideal.Although, none of these historical events can be linked directly with Austin and her novels. The anxiety instigated by the French revolution is said to have caused the Gothic exposition in English literature of the late 18th century. Um, if, uh, you remember the previous slide, there was a reference to the fear of revolution in great Britain as well.And that fear was caused by the, uh, revolution that took place in, uh, France. So. You can see how, uh, you know, uh, the field doctor cycle structure is going to be radically changed is there. And, um, the direct threat of war and direct threat of a revolution was also brought forth, uh, because of the French revolution. And we also saw in the previous lectures, how, um, the God thick, uh, sub genre. Self was seen as an outcome, the literary outcome of a political shift, a radical political shift. So. The Cairo and the horror of the French revolution was somehow kind of channeled, um, uh, you know, through what, in this, in this kind of art not, or, uh, which is, um, the Gothic, as many as Austin's letters to family and friends are the tails and the Juvenalian.Simplify Austin took a keen pleasure and gossip and the sensation, no more of a hub parody of the Gothic novel, not Abby shows that she enjoyed reading the literature of terror and had a thorough understanding of the genre and its conventions. So there are two kind of points in this commentary on the slide.One is that Austin was interested in, um, the sensation, uh, and, and that idea is, um, kind of, uh, indicated to us through. Um, her lectors and through the, uh, Juvenalian the fiction that she wrote up and she was very young. So. You can also see how very close lead, the idea of gossip and the sensational and got the, um, you know, uh, related, um, all these things seem to be associated topics.Um, and, and they also have a kind of a feminine, uh, framework. Women are usually, um, found to be indulging in gossip. Women do read a lot of sensational fiction, like fiction and Austin had. Keen interest apparently in the Gothic novel, which is, that's why she was very capable. And she, she does a brilliant job of satirizing carding and the techniques novel because she knew the conventions of the Shauna.Now let's have a quick look at the of fiction. Dark Jane Austin published, wrote and published a sentence. Sensibility was probably listen, 18, 11 pride and prejudice. In 1813. I have achieved referred to us my own darling, Charles pride and prejudice is a spectacular. Yeah. Oh, success. It continues to be successful to this day as are. And there are plenty of adaptations of that novel and you can see how different generations are relate to these works of Jane Austin. In his journal. So Walter Scott contrasted her exquisite touch with his own big bow approach for icing the way she made commonplace things and characters interesting from the truth of the description and the sentiment.So, um, there are two points here with relation to us courts, uh, comment on the kind of writing Austin produced. He, uh, kind of, um, you know, uh, Describes his own way of writing, which he, which he called the big bow approach. There's a huge scale. I mean, um, things are, uh, captured in a larger scale in us courts of fiction. Um, he writes historical fiction, um, not, not actives that are about succession, um, about heirs kingdoms. Uh, however, um, you know, if you look at. Austin, her domain is smaller. Domestic city becomes the central subject of her fiction. So, um, that's one point that God tries to bring out the comparison between her a mini HR capturing the society and his own larger historical focus. And the other is, um, you know, yeah. He points out that, uh, Austin is trying to, um, you know, uh, give a lot of truth, um, to her friction, through the sentiment, through the way she kind of captures the description through the way she captures characters in her work. So, yeah. There's also another related point that you can see, um, which is the subtext to this kind of description, which is how ordinary things become extraordinary, how there is truth in the ordinary and this kind of subject matter. Uh, the importance given to the commonplace is also up a major. Major major trajectory of the romantic movement. And you can see how, you know, the connection between, uh, romantic, um, philosophy and, um, got thick as well, which we kind of discussed in the previous lectures. So, um, there is a lot of truth in her description in her sentiments and, uh, the people and the places. Um, in her words, uh, commonplace, ordinary, regular folks, we would meet on an every day maths field park. Um, a novel, uh, by Austin was published in 1814, and Emma, uh, was also, uh, published in 1815. Um, Emma is very, uh, interesting, uh, because it's a supposed to be. Very, uh, it's supposed to be a favorite with the author herself and Austin half jokingly predicted that no one, but myself will much like, um, the central character, Emma, Emma. Um, I met discusses that it got to some of the central character and the plans she kind of, um, comes up writ to manage the society in which she's a part of. So. It's a very, very, um, interesting novel in that regard. It's a very mature novel. And, um, it's, it's, uh, uh, as I said, it's, it's a favorite with the other Austin only age 41 on 18, July 18, 17 leaving the subtle persuasion and her Gothics attack, not anger, Abby, to be published later that year. So preservation and not anger be republished together, um, after her death. So they were Postmus, uh, publications. If you look at, uh, Jane Austen's, um, Works. You can see how a very strong her female characters are. Um, you can go back to sentence sensibility. Um, you, you will find Eleanor and Maryanne as central characters and, um, It's regard to, uh, Maxfield park. We have Fanny prize, um, the really more distant, um, reserved Matt Fannie prize, kind of emerging as a very powerful character as the novel progresses. And then in persuasion, we have an Elliot again, um, She begins as a very module captain and the oval. And as the novel progresses, she comes to kind of capture the attention of everybody around her and Catherine, um, more or less is a cental, uh, female character in Northanger Abbey. And you can see how all these novels and Emma of course is based on the central, uh, character as well as, uh, it's a novel, which is kind of captures the growth and maturity of the central character. So it's. About a, kind of a female growth trajectory. Um, and, and it's, it's a kind of a seminar. Thanks. um, in some respects. So, uh, there is a parallel with this kind of fiction. Um, wait, With Gothic fiction. And usually we have, um, several female characters, um, trying to kind of maneuver their way around, um, all the minefields. Um, so you can see how, um, there is a close parallel between domestic realism on the one hand and, uh, got the fiction.
Video 2: Northanger AbbeyNorthanger Abbey was published post in the slate in 1817, nothing. Abby was published with preservation, as it said in four volumes and was probably losing about 1798 or 70 19 nine. So it's a kind of a late 18th century work, but it's made unpublished until after the death of Jane Austin. In 1803, the manuscript of Susan was sold the publisher, uh, Richard crows. They, uh, who dies for it, but in accountably it was not published at that time. Susan is the title given to not anger a bit in, in its first wash and, and Jane Austen goes back to work and revises the novel and, uh, retitled it as not anger Abby. So you can see how, um, you know, uh, that. That provisions are crucial to the way does structured, especially with regard to Jane Austin.Now a rock clips fiction was the natural target for Jane Austen's satire and not anger. Abby, the book novel loving her Ryan, Catherine Morland imposes on reality, the Gothic plots with which he is familiar. So, if you read the novel, you will know that captain Moreland is a president who is hooked by the Gothic section that she read, that you read mysteries of it all for when gasoline drank, throw the monk. So all these novels are consumed by Catherine Morland and Isabella Thorpe, our friend. Um, so. And, and she tries, um, this hero of Jane Austin in Northanger Abbey tries to impose on reality, the Gothic structure, the got the characters, the Gothic, um, you know, plots that she has, um, uh, read and know that she has fed on. So, um, she tries to kind of see reality through the lens of Gothic friction, and, um, She is considered. Austin is considered to satirize the Gothic narratives in Northanger Abbey, but is she really satirizing? That's another question which we will kind of address as this lecture, progressors. Kevin, you have the title page of not got rabbit and a puzzle nation, they would publish together. Um, and you can see the reference to the author there. It says by the author of pride and prejudice and Mansfield park exit tra the bag will sketch a notice of the author in four volumes. And it was published in 1818. This is the title page, um, of the work, um, which, which was published in 1818. Nothing that I bake is far more complex than it might seem. She clearly, so, uh, since a surprising number of readers and critics seem to consider the text simply in terms of its layers of parody, treating it as nothing more than a lighthearted spoof. Gino, since novels are complex, all the novels are complex, but, um, But this novel, nothing ever is more complex because everybody, at least a large number of critics seem to consider the novel as just a pattern day. Uh, it just seems to be a kind of a lighthearted spoof, uh, a mockery of, um, you know, something that was very popular, which is the Gothic. So what exactly is the novel doing? Using this party is something, uh, which is very significant. While Austin is engaged in pointing out the absurdity of many Gothic conventions throats. The novel, this is far from her only concern with the form. Rhonda her work is simultaneously a critique and a defense of books, like the mysteries of the dolphin and the monk. So this is a very key point, which has been brought out by this critic, Alex scopic, who argues that while Oscar is mocking, um, the Gothic conventions in Northanger Urbay, she's also Simon. Painlessly, uh, defending books such as mysteries, if it doll for such that is a critique as well as a defense of the genre. Um, so this is a very, uh, contradictory point, but it's also a valid one. If you read the novel very, very carefully. So how, how do, how does she defend it? So that's the, that's the question that begs to be asked, and let's try to kind of answer that, uh, for whole characters, the Gothics a hundred console's inspectors and nothing compared to the very real societal powers of the Regency it's gendered power structure and ideology. So on the one hand we have the haunted causals and the specters, um, The supernatural elements, which are used in Gothic fiction, but on the other hand, um, in the Regency, the period in which, um, you know, Austin lived, um, there was a different kind of horror. Um, you know, that horror was produced by, um, the reality of society and that aura gets, um, you know, uh, captured, um, In this party, um, in this case hardly. So while she is powering mocking satirizing, the Gothic convention, she is also kind of capturing the terrorists and society and, uh, using, um, terrors does care, the Gothic, um, heroin, uh, quote unquote, uh, which is, uh, Catherine Morland. This model is exemplified. I mean, not anger, Abby agenda. Tell me as the arc got the Whiddon and exploited button sentence sensibility where the logic of coercion and dehumanization, the society of relies on is thrown into sharp relief by Eliza Williams. Tragic end motif of, uh, arch villain is clearly exemplified in the figure of general Tilney and that is. Really are done in a clear manner, but there are other Willens who will kind of body the societal horror. And one such example is will it be in sentence sensibility, a Villa B who seduces Eliza Williams. So you can see how, um, Jane Austin uses, um, some of the horrors society and, um, kind of packages it neatly through this Gothic party. And it's, it's a kind of a double edge tool. It does a party. It can make the. Uh, Redis laugh at it at the same time. Um, by laughing at it, we also realized that it's, it's perhaps it's not a party that there is a kind of a larger significance and more subtle and more potent significance when we, it, I thought, you know, the classes may not be, um, you know, uh, no very oppressive in a literal manner, but there is a lot of oppression subtly going on inside the walls of not anger, Abby, the mansion of general Tilney. No far from a homeless party, then Northanger Abbey ma marks a turning point. When, where Jane Austin injected the Gothic with a new level of social political economic critique, a tradition that endures to this day, Catherine Morland the daughter of a country person is the innocent abroad who gains worldly, Western. First in the fashionable society of bath. And then at Northanger Abbey, she learns not to interpret the world through her reading of cottage, thrillers, nothing. I be, um, Criticizes, both polite society and also satirizes, um, Gothic tales of terror. Um, we have captain Morlan, who's just the daughter of a country Parson, but she's very, very innocent. And when she traveled, um, there's a lot that she needs to learn about society, especially the fascia Burns's ideal. But, and again, uh, she undergoes a steep learning curve at Northanger Abbey. Um, the Gothic structure, uh, at the heart of the novel and she kind of learns that she should not read the world as she would read a Gothic thriller. And it. See how this novel is structured as the, uh, growing up story of a heroic too. It can also be a category as a female Gothic in some respects, it becomes, um, a female context because we have at the heart of it, a character who is undergoing, um, the process of learning something a bit. Uh, regard to a Gothic plot, um, you know, and, and she imagines that she is traversing that Gothic plot in a literal manner, but there is a psychological go got the plot as well. And she realizes that. While, um, general Tilney may not be a in a, in a very formulaic sense, but he is very oppressive and he is against the wishes of his, um, uh, children. So you can see that there is a very strong case that can be made to, uh, define this novel as an example of female Gtech. Now Austin is no not ridiculing the Gothic romance in this novel, not anger, Abby. Instead Austin heightens the common enzyme I did present in the Gothic novel, but in deposing, the Gothic missionary into the given machine of not anger, Abby's common, uh, life, uh, will argue is that Austin is not quite a part us, but almost an imitator of the works of Ratcliffe. In other words, she is. In fact, an for our club to kind of, um, continue my earlier point about, um, See me Gothic. Um, here, the critic argues that, uh, what has happened, LinkedIn? Northanger Abbey is not the ridicule. Not a, yeah. What mockery offered instead. Uh, the anxiety that is prevalent in Gothic fiction is, um, Present in this fiction as well in Northanger Abbey and Austin is, um, instead of pattering is, uh, imitating the works of Radcliffe. So one can argue that she is in fact, an heir, a stew and graft cliff. Um, the one who started the school. So as we talked about, um, the nature of the Gothic in the previous, uh, Uh, lectures and arrived at the conclusion that there is a prevalent sense of fear. There there's also a prevalent sense of anxiety, especially on the part of the female character, the central female character. And that anxiety is very much present in Catherine. Morland here in this novel. There's an anxiety for her to belong to the society in which she is present. There's an anxiety for her to kind of, um, understand, um, the workings of not anger. Abby, there's an anxiety on her part to kind of make sure that, um, you know, uh, Hendry tailing that the son, uh, falls in love with her. Now let's look at the nature of the plot of not anger Abby, as we, uh, Kind of realized this is the coming of age story of this naive, highly impressionable protagonist. Catherine. She's very young. She's very innocent and she is highly impressionable. Well, and she is traveling. Uh, in this, uh, story, the book is divided into two sections. In part one, we have Catherine visiting Bart with her family, friends, the Allens, while they are Catherine is introduced to the duplicitous Isabella top a very, very remarkable young woman, but. But one who is very, um, duplicitous as well. Uh, she's someone who cannot be trusted. Um, uh, and she also has a brother come to that. Yeah. Um, so she's introduced to Isabella part, but also the kind hundred incentive killing me, siblings, Elena, and handwri um, as non Kendra are the children of general Tilney so Isabella. It's a kind of a foil to Catherine Morland. Catherine is immediately attracted to Henry who engages her in conversation and gently walks her about her optic reading habits. Um, so we can see the kind of, um, the patterny, um, beginning, uh, in this kind of conversation that takes place between, uh, Henry. Um, tell me and, uh, Catherine Morland. Isabella tarp also reads a lot of Gothic fiction. Um, her brother, John, and also pretends to read a lot of Gothic friction. So you can see, um, a lot of art talk about reading a fiction. Reading goes on in this fiction. After some time, Catherine learns of Isabella's manipulation of a brother, James Morland, Isabella has coated James accepted his engagement and then jilted him for captain Frederick, tell me, and she decides to leave Isabella and bought an echo company, Elena, and hand it to their home Northanger Abbey. So, um, Isabella's factor is, um, For the established as fraudulent, when we realized how she breaks up her engagement with James Morland, who was the brother of Katherine Moreland. So she jilted him, um, in order to, uh, get engaged with captain Frederick Tilney. Elder son of, um, gentle Tilney and Catherine decides to leave bath and travel with Elena and Henry today, Northanger Abbey. So when, uh, Catherine Morland finds herself in Northanger Abbey, she imagines herself the and she imagines this place to be a place of oppression, literally. Oppression. And she tries to figure out more information about the place that she is in. So in a series comic episodes, Katherine imagines, not Vanguard Abby, and the inhabitants as enacting her beloved, got the script. Eventually Henry learns for Gothic, imaginings and chastises her for them shortly after Catherine is dismissed from the Abbey by Henry. Oh, the agenda. Tell me because he learns that Catherine does not have a family fortune. And so she would poor match for his son, ultimate Catherine and Henry reconcile. And despite general Tiffany's disapproval of their union married. So you can see how, um, you know, uh, Catherine Morland tries to kind of, Oh, walked through or the labyrinth time, um, part of pathways of not anger. I be trying to find out, uh, he didn't, uh, uh, plot, um, and, uh, in her wandering, she comes across, uh, um, Henry Tilney and he chastises her. It takes her to task for imagining things about, uh, um, this, um, this. Structure this, um, you know, uh, mansion and, uh, she is very embarrassed and ashamed of what she has done and Beck's, um, his forgiveness and later general Tilney dismisses her from the, uh, Abby, because he realizes that she is, um, very poor. She does not have a fortune and therefore she would not be an ideal match for him. Son, um, Catherine Morland leaves, um, the Abbey in, in tears, but later Henry follows her and they are reconciled. And despite the disapproval of general Tilney, they are married. So you can see how this romantic plot survive, this Gothic, um, you know, machinery and it's the vibes, um, the lack of money and forced June. And, um, you know, it tends happily for the central couple. Now, let's see how the Coptic novel is referenced in, um, not anger Abby. So in the first half of the book, um, which has sets in fashionable, but they see Catherine meeting, uh, Isabella Thorpe, who's a flight flighty, young woman. She looks like she's a flight young woman, but she's very calculating and, um, you know, uh, strategic, you can see how. Easily discard the brother of Catherine Morland once she realizes that he doesn't have a lot of money. Yeah. And our goals for the elders son of gentle Tilney. So you can see in some regards that she is also kind of mirroring, um, uh, gender Tilney, right. Uh, in, in, in the kind of choices that she makes, uh, about, uh, marriage partners. Oh, when Catherine opiates that she wishes, she could spend her whole life in reading, in reading, uh, and Radcliffe's hugely popular and influential, influential, Gothic, novel. The ministries of Adolfo it's about replies that she has made a list of 10 or 12 more of the same kind for you class to a fourth and back Claremont.Ms. Judas warnings, necromancer of the black forest, midnight bell, our front of the Rhine hard mystery. So these are all. Hi does I've got thick fiction and she kind of offers this. Let's do her friend at new best friends. Catherine Morland and you can see how friendships are formed through this kind of stuff change. And, um, these are, uh, actual titles of real books that they came out in that period. So for some time in the 19th century, it was true. And really believe that Austin May not may have made up these titles so preposterous that they sound related non Gothic readers, how a latest scholarship review that the novels did all exist. And they're all on display to get for the first time. It Tara and wonder, which is an exhibition in the British library. So you can see how these are titles. The titles referred to in the slide are all not made up titles. Um, by Austin, they were actual texts that were circulating in that period. And they are all on display in the exhibition that it was run by the British library in 2015. In the second half of the novel, especially during the travel to not angry, maybe we can see Catherine being teased by Henry about the novels that she had read. And, um, you know, he kind of teases Catherine about what she expects the house Northanger Abbey to be like, uh, And of course, Catherine has, um, had imagined a full on Radcliffe. Your dark rooting means like building stuffed with secrets and Henry asks. And are you prepared to encounter all the horrors that are building that building suggests what one reads about my produce? Have you established heart knows fit for sliding panels and tapestry? So. Yeah, he, his reference is here are, um, some of the attributes I've got the fiction, the sliding panels, hiding hotter thing. And, um, all the maze like buildings and the darkness and the brooding ambience of course, uh, uh, consoles are, uh, actual, uh, part in, um, in the parcel of, uh, fiction that, um, Catherine had read, um, just as Isabella tar Pat. So, um, and Henry is kind of teasing her. He's also setting up, um, not anger, Abby, as a place, um, with a lot of potential for Gothic, terror and horror, and these, um, these elements, which kind of create a particular mood in a, it's been more or less about the, uh, structure, not anger every, and she tries to kind of, um, you know, yeah. Bring back her, um, reading and see the world through the pages of the works that she had read Hindu, also proceeds to distilled weight as key plot lines from the complete works of a hundred clip into a single, very entertaining. Now at what is happened at the Abbey during Catherine's wizard, his intention is to entertain, but Catherine is both frightened and immediately expects the worst or the most exciting happen. So, um, why. Kendall is teasing. He also kind of condenses some of the key plot lines of Andropoulos works into a single, um, not entertaining up plot. And Catherine is really frightened at what he had been, uh, sketching out for her benefit. But she is simultaneously frightened as well as excited by the prospect. So this is what is underlining. Um, some of the, uh, you know, uh, got the philosophy is, um, you know, to be frightened is also to be excited. And we did see in the previous lectures, how there is a kind of a sexual, um, you know, subtext to this kind of excitement when, when the Gothic heroine is, um, you know, um, moving through the LeBron time, passage ways she is somehow kind of. Lowering the, the foot big then and the full burden could be the sexual as well. Thank you for watching. I'll continue in the next session.