Northanger Abbey Literature and Writing Quotes

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

Quote #4

"Udolpho! Oh, Lord! not I; I never read novels, I have something else to do."

Catherine, humbled and ashamed, was going to apologize for her question, but he prevented her by saying, "Novels are so full of nonsense and stuff; there has not been a tolerably decent one come out since Tom Jones, except the Monk; I read that t'other day; but as for all the others, they are the stupidest things in creation." (7.33-34)

John Thorpe isn't exactly an authority on anything, and his sentiments on novels are undermined by the fact that he does in fact read them. Notably, Catherine is embarrassed to like novels in the face of John's opposition. She's something of a closet fan.

Quote #5

Catherine was then left to the luxury of a raised, restless, and frightened imagination over the pages of Udolpho, lost from all worldly concerns of dressing and dinner, incapable of soothing Mrs. Allen's fears on the delay of an expected dress-maker. (7.54)

Gothic novels have a major, and humorous, effect on Catherine. She's basically oblivious to the entire world while she's reading. But she also takes getting lost in a good book to a potentially dangerous level, given what Gothic novels do to her imagination. The diction, or word choice, here indicates that Catherine's imagination is getting really worked-up.

Quote #6

"What, is it really a castle, an old castle?"

"The oldest in the kingdom."

"But is it like what one reads of?"

"Exactly - the very same."

"But now, really, are there towers and long galleries?"

"By dozens." (9.24-31)

Catherine is overly anxious to visit a castle with the Thorpes in order to experience something she has read about. Ironically, the Thorpe's are actually lying about this castle being old, so Catherine would not have had much of a "Gothic" experience if she had gone.