Northanger Abbey Family Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

"Ah, mother! how do you do?" said he, giving her a hearty shake of the hand: "where did you get that quiz of a hat, it makes you look like an old witch? Here is Morland and I come to stay a few days with you, so you must look out for a couple of good beds some where near." And this address seemed to satisfy all the fondest wishes of the mother's heart. (7.43)

The Thorpe family dynamic is definitely an odd one. John is very rude to his mother and Mrs. Thorpe seems to allow any and all sort of behavior from her children.

Quote #5

"Indeed he is, Mrs. Allen," said Mrs. Thorpe, smiling complacently; "I must say it, though I am his mother, that there is not a more agreeable young man in the world."

This in applicable answer might have been too much for the comprehension of many; but it did not puzzle Mrs. Allen, for after only a moment's consideration, she said, in a whisper to Catherine, "I dare say she thought I was speaking of her son." (8.33-34)

Mrs. Thorpe seems oblivious to the actual nature's of her children, and she also seems to read a compliment to them into anything anyone says. Mrs. Allen was speaking of Mr. Tilney, but Mrs. Thorpe "complacently," or smugly, assumed Mrs. Allen was speaking of John.

Quote #6

Her own family were plain, matter-of-fact people, who seldom aimed at wit of any kind; her father, at the utmost, being contented with a pun, and her mother with a proverb; they were not in the habit therefore of telling lies to increase their importance, or of asserting at one moment what they would contradict the next. (9.31)

The Morlands are contrasted to the other families in the book, who engage in witty displays and falsehoods. Catherine is mystified by the Thorpe's double-speak, or by how they say one thing and mean another. Catherine recalls her family's plain-spoken attitude fondly, noting how they do not lie or deliberately contradict themselves.