Question

Which Gothic work plays a major role in Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey?

• A. The Italian
• B. The Monk
• C. The Mysteries of Udolpho
• D. Vathek

Answer 1

Answer:

C. The Mysteries of Udolpho

The Mysteries of Udolpho

• Author: Ann Radcliffe
• Genre: Gothic novel
• Publication Year: 1794
• Significance in Northanger Abbey:
  1. The novel is frequently read and discussed by the protagonist, Catherine Morland.
  2. Catherine's exaggerated interpretations of real-life events are heavily influenced by the sensational and melodramatic plot of The Mysteries of Udolpho.
  3. It serves as a prime example of the popular Gothic literature of the late 18th century, which Austen uses to satirize the reading habits and romanticized notions of her heroine.
  4. Radcliffe's novel embodies the tropes of the genre: a brooding castle, mysterious disappearances, supernatural suggestions, and a vulnerable heroine facing dark secrets.
• Satirical Element: Jane Austen uses Catherine's obsession with The Mysteries of Udolpho to gently mock the excesses of the Gothic genre and the tendency of some readers to confuse fiction with reality. Catherine's imagination runs wild, expecting horrors and conspiracies at the fictional Northanger Abbey that mirror the events in Radcliffe's novel.
• Ann Radcliffe's Influence: Radcliffe was a leading figure in the