Chapter 1-5 (Northanger Abbey)

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Reliability of a Narrator

  • Third person/ First person
  • Don't know anything about them, so you can't judge them or know whether they are trustworthy
  • Events and thoughts
  • The choices that they make
  • The relationships between the characters
  • Need to consider their motivations
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How is NA described?

Northanger Abbey can be described as:

  • A Bildungsroman
  • A satire of Gothic novels
  • A literary parody
  • A romance novel
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Narrative Voice

Northanger Abbey is written in third person limited narration, told through the eyes of Catherine. At times, the narrator is intrusive and makes an ironic comments on characters, events or situations

What is the impact of this narrative voice on the reader?

  • Describe how society worked
  • Giving a wider context to the novel
  • Helps to drive the plot forward
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Comparison of the opening of novel

How does the opening of this novel compare to other novels?

  • In Handmaids tale we don't get told about who Offred is and we question the uncertainty throughout the book
  • Northanger Abbey is more character driven, as it only focuses on the character and what happens to the character rather than other events within the book
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Chracter of Mrs Allen (Chapter 3)

“Every morning brought, of her knowing nobody at all”

    • Shows how she doesn’t know anyone in her life
    • Implying she is lonely and that she has no one that she could turn to in her life
  • “Mrs Allen was quite struck by his genius”
    • Shows how because she doesn’t have any genius within her, that when someone does show a clever side, she is very shocked, as she has never experienced what cleverness or genius is and what it is like
  • “I am quite of your opinion, sir”
    • Contrasts with chapter 2, which describes her to have no manner, but here the narrator has portrayed her to have quite a lot of respect and manner towards men of her status and class. 
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