The description of the rather shallow interaction between Mrs. Thorpe and Mrs. Allen, on page 25, was very interesting to read because it was easy to relate to..."Compliments on good looks now passed; and, after observing how time had slipped away since they were last together, how little they had thought of meeting in Bath, and what a pleasure it was to see an old friend, they proceeded to make inquiries and give intelligence as to their families, sisters, and cousins, talking both together, far more ready to give than to receive information, and hearing very little of what the other said." This seems to describe a lot of conversations I, and other girls, have with long-lost friends.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Girls Rule, Boys Drool :)
In contrast to True History, it seems that Northanger Abbey is beginning to explore the idea of femininity. First, there is extensive discussion of muslin, dresses, and hats, as Mrs. Allen seems to really love clothes and the idea of fashion. Second, there is an introduction to the topic of love (and even heartbreak) when Catherine meets Mr. Tilney which is something girls really like to talk about. Austen mentions how Catherine cannot seem to stop talking about him to Isabella, after meeting him for the first time (pg 18). Also, Jane Austen explores the habits of women in different social interactions. Starting on page 20, Catherine's flirtatious interactions with Mr. Tilney are described, her developing friendship with Catherine is described on page 29, more shallow interactions between two women are described on page 25, between Mrs. Thorpe and Mrs. Allen, and the interactions between brother and sister, Catherine and James, are touched on briefly on page 42.
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I agree that the novel seems to have a distinctly feminine slant; however, I disagree with the post that this is the intention of the author. During the time Austen was writing this, women were not taught much beyond what was considered the "feminine sphere" of sewing, drawing, dressing, etc. Therefore, Austen would have a much harder time writing from a male perspective than a female. It seems to me that she does try to appeal to a male readership, through the contrasting characters of Tilney and John; Tilney clearly represents what the ideal man would be, whereas John is the opposite. Also, most of her social commentary, such as the aside about novels, are fairly generic and can apply to both genders. However, if I didn't know the author of the novel and someone asked me to guess their gender, I would still say female simply because of the decidedly feminine slant on the writing and tone.
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