I would like to point out the naivety of Catherine, but in another aspect. Both Henry Tilney and General Tilney allude to a hope of including Catherine in their family soon, but she remains sadly ignorant of these.
On page 63, Henry associates the act of dancing with that of marriage. He suggests that the relationship in which the dancer and his/her partner go into is like that of marriage in that they are each only to be with the other. Later, on page 137, he correlates a rose to love, indicating perhaps that he means a love for him.
General Tilney also alludes to her possibly entering their family, most obviously on page 138. He is mentioning to their party that he hopes to pick out a new set of pottery, although probably not for himself. Catherine is then mentioned as probably being the only one at the table who didn't understand him.
What I find frustrating about this ignorance on the part of Catherine is that she is so worried about being good for Henry because she thinks she likes him. But the very thing that she wants is being alluded to by the Tilney family, multiple times, and she just doesn't seem to realize it! One would think EVENTUALLY she could figure things out, but sadly it doesn't seeem to be the case. Hopefully, by the end of the book she will have learned something.
Ashley, I cannot agree with your previous blog post. Although I agree that Catherine was very naive towards the beginning of the novel. She did not realize that Isabella was a bitch;she didn't know that John Thrope had feelings for her; she did not understand Tilney's sarcastic tone as he described a situation present in Gothic novels; she believes General Tilney to have murdered his wife because she died suddenly of an illness. However, I believe that Catherine redeems herself as she develops and matures throughout the novel. Catherine recognizes her naivety in believing the General to have murdered his wife and vows to change her thinking; She realizes the lies and deceit of Isabella; and she DOES come to recognize that Tilney likes her. That's why she cries so much at the end of the novel because she believes that they could be married. In my opinion, Catherine's experiences mature her person and allow her to develop as a character.
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