My own perceptions of the novel, combined with my other classmates' posts, really make me feel as if this novel is completely satirical. I very much enjoy the fact that Austen is able to poke fun at this type of society without devaluing the events of the story and the feelings of its characters. As odd as it might be, the social scene in the novel seems to parallel aspects of the social scene that I am apart of at UNC- Greek fraternity and sorority life. Although there are redeemable qualities and I enjoy my participation in this group, the typical character cliches are more than present, as they are in the novel.
I found it kind of amusing to go through the characters that we have met so far and dub them with their stereotypical reputation. Most notable are the characters of Isabella, Catherine, and John Thorpe. In current life at UNC, Isabella is the typical fake and flakey sorority girl who is overly concerned with herself and how she is portrayed to others. She seems to care on the surface, but her actions tell otherwise. John Thorpe is the boy who is high on the social scale, and because of this, has never had any reason to develop a genuinely pleasant personality. Regardless of this attitude, people seem to feel like they have to like him just because of his social standing. Catherine is the innocent, naive outsider who has no former information about this social scene before entering it but she is slowly learning the rules of the game. Henry, although involved in the scene, kind of shuns it, but nevertheless fits in. He disagrees with the rules of the 'game' but still goes along with it.
Although the way Austen portrays the characters is quite comical, the storyline is still legit enough to be taken seriously. Their concerns and complaints seem completely viable in this atmosphere, which makes the novel all the more powerful and entertaining.
Upon reading your post, Sarah, I found that I felt almost the same way. And I do not know if I only feel this way about "Northanger Abbey," but I find it to almost be Jane Austen's style. While reading "Pride and Prejudice," you could almost say the same. The political and social society that Catherine and Elizabeth (Pride & Prejudice) both live in stress the fact of marrying well and participating in the balls that are for the young adults. Comparing the both to Greek life at UNC, I definitely could see the correlation. There is a clear association with young ladies that do things to fit in, rather than being who they truly are (Isabella & Lydia, from "Pride & Prejudice), and then those men who are social climbers but never are truly genuine gentlemen (Thorpe and Wickham from "Pride and Prejudice"). Concluding this, I find that you touched on a specific element that Austen is quite good at portraying, and she uses it throughout her novels.
ReplyDelete