The Psychological Development of Catherine Morland
The psychological development of the characters in a novel is the driving point of the storyline. This maturation of the protagonist is central to the novel Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, where the heroine’s views of what life should be like conflict with reality. The influence of Gothic romance novels such as The Mysteries of Udolpho have an intense effect on Catherine Morland, who takes each puzzling page for truth. Austen’s novel is about the character development of Miss Morland, who discovers through several incidents that life is not what is written down in a book, but what is going on in the moment. She learns that just because there is an antique cabinet in the corner of a room does not mean it contains a secret manuscript hundreds of years old. Austen’s fallible heroine transforms through these series of events into a less innocent, more open-minded woman.
When Catherine first arrives at Northanger Abbey, she studies the architecture closely, looking to see if it resembles any mysterious castle such as Udolpho. After she inspects the outside and inside, she realizes that it is just an Abbey, but feels a little disappointment that it is not as full of adventure as she had speculated during the carriage ride. Upon entering her sleeping quarters, she notices a high chest in one corner of the room. All of her old sentiments about mysteries immediately return, and she goes about inspecting the chest thoroughly. “She advanced and examined it closely; it was of cedar, curiously inlaid with some darker wood…the lock was silver, though tarnished from age” (Austen 136). With her curiosity so justly piqued, she decides to open it to see if there are any treasures inside. “Her resolute effort through back the lid, and gave to her astonished eyes the view of a white cotton counterpane, properly folded, reposing at one end of the chest in undisputed possession!” (136). She blushes quickly, and experiences...