Thoughts on Northanger Abbey and (of course) Marriage

The geek in me manifests itself once in a while and recently, it takes the form of auditing a course in Victorian Literature. Ever since I took British Lit II in my sophomore year of college, I was hooked. I would have added English as another major, but I would have stayed in college forever. All that to say, I'm in Victorian Literature and we have just finished reading Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. Some of the themes we've discussed include how Austen was writing this as a parody of Gothic novels and the always present topic of marriage.

The purpose of this post is not to talk about our class' topics of discussion. The purpose of this post is mostly to express some of the thoughts that have been floating around in my head concerning Austen's Northanger Abbey.

In Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen created a not-so-Gothic heroine in Catherine Morland. Austen also created a not-so-Gothic counterpart to Catherine in Henry TIlney, the supposed hero of the novel. In Henry Tilney (I need to be specific, since there are three gentlemen by the name of Tilney in Northanger Abbey), Jane Austen created a different kind of hero. Instead of the extremely dashing knight-in-shining-armor hero that is most common in Gothic novels - as well as in the typical Disney fairy tale - Henry Tilney was described as an almost handsome 26-year-old man. He is mature, not flighty, constant, faithful, patient, and rational.

At the end of the novel (spoiler alert, people!), Henry Tilney proposed to Catherine Morland. It was bound to happen anyways. Of course, Catherine was delighted to accept the offer. However, it's interesting to note how Austen described Tilney's feelings toward Catherine. She described it thus, "...though Henry was now sincerely attached to her, though he felt and delighted in all the excellencies of her character and truly loved her society, I must confess that his affection originated in nothing better than gratitude, or, in other words, that a persuasion of her partiality for him had been the only cause of giving her a serious thought" (Vol. II, Chapter XV). Henry came to like Catherine because she liked him. Some might think that this is very a very unromantic notion in a supposedly romantic comedy-ish author. Like Julia Young said, "How very junior high!" It might be awfully junior high of Tilney, but is it possible that Austen might have motive other than to poke fun at the idea of marriage based on love?

Is it possible that, when writing this quote, Austen was commenting on the Gothic idea of romance? In Gothic writing genre, romance seems to include the impulsive and highly emotional feelings which yield to very impulsive and highly emotional relationships. Is it possible, that Austen was trying to convey that, when it comes to finding a marriage partner, it is completely wise and acceptable to look for companionship? This does not mean marriage of convenience, but rather taking into consideration compatibility in intellect, values, faith, etc. Is it possible that Austen was saying that marriage should not be based on the desperately impulsive love, or the idea of "soul mates" and "love at first sight," but on the possibility of two people living together and sharing their lives with each other without committing murder?