This playful short novel is the one which most resembles Jane Austen's Juvenilia. It is the story of the unsophisticated and sincere Catherine Morland on her first trip away from home, for a stay in Bath. There she meets the entertaining Henry Tilney; later, on a visit to his family's house (the "Northanger Abbey" of the title) she learns to distinguish between the highly charged calamities of Gothic fiction and the realities of ordinary life (which can also be distressing in their way). Like Jane Austen's Love and Freindship, this book makes fun of the conventions of many late 18th century literary works, with their highly wrought and unnatural emotions; some of this humor derives from the contrast between Catherine Morland and the conventional heroines of novels of the day.
Additional resources:
Molland,
Wikipedia
Volume I
Chapter I (1)
- Catherine is invited to Bath by the Allens
Chapter II (2)
- Catherine and the Allens arrive in Bath and attend the Upper Rooms
Chapter III (3)
- Enter the Hero
Chapter IV (4)
- Catherine and Mrs. Allen meet Mrs. Thorpe and her daughters at the Pump Room
Chapter V (5)
- Catherine and Isabella grow closer; Jane Austen's famous "defense of the novel"
Chapter VI (6)
- Catherine and Isabella at the Pump Room; Isabella lists "The Northanger Canon"
Chapter VII (7)
- Catherine and Isabella meet James Morland and John Thorpe
Chapter VIII (8)
- Catherine dances with John Thorpe at the Upper Rooms, meets Henry Tilney and his sister
Chapter IX (9)
- Catherine goes driving with John Thorpe
Chapter X (10)
- Catherine meets Eleanor Tilney at the Pump Room; Henry compares dancing and marriage
Chapter XI (11)
- Catherine goes driving with John Thorpe despite being engaged to walk with the Tilneys
Chapter XII (12)
- Catherine calls on Eleanor to apologize; later, she meets Henry at the theatre
Chapter XIII (13)
- Isabella, John, and James try to get Catherine to go to Clifton with them; Catherine meets General Tilney
Chapter XIV (14)
- The walk around Beechen Cliff
Chapter XV (15)
- Isabella and James are engaged
Volume II
Chapter I (16)
- Captain Tilney comes to Bath, dances with Isabella
Chapter II (17)
- Catherine is invited to Northanger Abbey
Chapter III (18)
- Catherine and Isabella meet Captain Tilney at the Pump Room
Chapter IV (19)
- Catherine and Henry discuss Isabella's behaviour with Captain Tilney
Chapter V (20)
- Catherine and the Tilneys travel to Northanger Abbey; Henry's parody of a Gothic novel
Chapter VI (21)
- Catherine inspects some mysterious pieces of furniture at the Abbey
Chapter VII (22)
- General Tilney and Eleanor give Catherine a tour of the Abbey
Chapter VIII (23)
- Catherine becomes suspicious about Mrs. Tilney's death
Chapter IX (24)
- Henry finds Catherine near his mother's room
Chapter X (25)
- Catherine receives a letter from James
Chapter XI (26)
- Catherine calls on Henry at his house in Woodston
Chapter XII (27)
- Catherine receives a letter from Isabella
Chapter XIII (28)
- Catherine leaves Northanger Abbey
Chapter XIV (29)
- Catherine arrives in Fullerton
Chapter XV (30)
- Henry comes to Fullerton
Chapter XVI (31)
- In which we hasten together to perfect felicity