Northanger Abbey is based on a contrast between two different worlds, the “real” word and the Gothic world. (I use q. marks on “real” because, of course, every thing in the novel is fictional.) Catherine lives in the “real” world. She grows up in a fairly wealthy family in a fairly boring town, Fullerton. The romantic plot begins in the “real” fashionable town of Bath, where she meets the Tinleys and the Thorns. She and Henry fall in love, etc.

The Gothic world, on the hand, is conjured by popular novelists and poets and playwrights in the second half of the 18th century. Life in the Gothic world is much more colorful and exciting and dangerous. The Gothic world is full of beautiful and innocent heroines, fearless and noble heroes, sadistic and murderous villains, horrible ghosts and skeletons, and dark, ruined castles.

Throughout the novel, Austen frequently nudges readers to understand the difference between those two worlds. Catherine, the well-meaning but immature heroine, helps us to draw distinctions. She does so every time she projects Gothic characters, plots, settings, or themes onto her “real” world. Just as important, though, Catherine does have moments of clarity in which her own good sense and good manners direct her to what is “really” going on.

For your post, present a short quotation (a sentence or two) and explain how the words and phrases suggest the difference between the “real” world and the Gothic world. Before you begin this work, though, please read the page on Posting.