#tilney

Austen, Jane. Northanger Abbey. Edited by Claire Grogan, Broadview Press, 2002.

Fanny Price could certainly take some lessons in backbone from Catherine Morland. Torn between her first group of friends and her newer and more respectable ones, Catherine begs off from plans with the former, stating that she already has plans with Edward and Eleanor Tilney. Wanting his own way, John Thorpe seeks out Miss Tilney and lies that Catherine had a prior engagement with his group of friends, effectively letting her out of her plans with the Tilneys. When Catherine finds out, she’s furious:

“Thus passed a long ten minutes, till they were again joined by Thorpe, who, coming to them with a gayer look, said, 'Well, I have settled the matter, and now we may all go tomorrow with a safe conscience. I have been to Miss Tilney, and made your excuses.'

‘You have not!’ cried Catherine.

‘I have, upon my soul. Left her this moment. Told her you had sent me to say that, having just recollected a prior engagement of going to Clifton with us tomorrow, you could not have the pleasure of walking with her till Tuesday. She said very well, Tuesday was just as convenient to her; so there is an end of all our difficulties. A pretty good thought of mine—hey?’

Isabella’s countenance was once more all smiles and good humour, and James too looked happy again.

‘A most heavenly thought indeed! Now, my sweet Catherine, all our distresses are over; you are honourably acquitted, and we shall have a most delightful party.’

‘This will not do,’ said Catherine; ‘I cannot submit to this. I must run after Miss Tilney directly and set her right.’

Isabella, however, caught hold of one hand, Thorpe of the other, and remonstrances poured in from all three. Even James was quite angry. When everything was settled, when Miss Tilney herself said that Tuesday would suit her as well, it was quite ridiculous, quite absurd, to make any further objection.

‘I do not care. Mr. Thorpe had no business to invent any such message. If I had thought it right to put it off, I could have spoken to Miss Tilney myself. This is only doing it in a ruder way; and how do I know that Mr. Thorpe has—He may be mistaken again perhaps; he led me into one act of rudeness by his mistake on Friday. Let me go, Mr. Thorpe; Isabella, do not hold me.’

Thorpe told her it would be in vain to go after the Tilneys; they were turning the corner into Brock Street, when he had overtaken them, and were at home by this time.

‘Then I will go after them,’ said Catherine; ‘wherever they are I will go after them. It does not signify talking. If I could not be persuaded into doing what I thought wrong, I never will be tricked into it.’” (volume I, chapter 13, page 115)

This is my absolute favorite Catherine scene. She stands up for herself so ferociously and adamantly that there can be no arguing with her. Her conscience prevents her from enduring any thought that she might have wronged someone, and I think that’s very admirable -- a trait that those she is currently surrounding herself with could stand to develop.

Henry Tilney of Northanger Abbey.

[this was copied and pasted from my personal Twitter account. Felt like maybe other people in this site may have more to contribute so I am repeating my rambles here]

Some weeks ago, I looked back on Jane Austen's 6 novels after I re-watched and reviewed Joe Wright's movie adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.

At that time, I supposed Mr. Darcy to be Austen's best leading man. Second would be Mr. Knightley and third would be Captain Wentworth.

I based it on who had the best character development. Of course, one of Jane Austen's strengths as a writer (at least, in my opinion) is her writing of her heroines' character development. Who they are at the start is often very different from who they end up becoming.

With Austen's leading men though, not all of them experience so much change (except in their affection for the protagonist and their civil status). Mr. Darcy is the one who is the most changed because his development intertwines with that of Lizzie Bennet's.

However, upon watching Northanger Abbey (the 2007 version is the best) and upon remembering the book, I realized how unfair my criteria for "best leading man" was because in limiting it to "the most changed" I forget the merits of other great Austen leading men.

And an example of an interesting leading man is Henry Tilney. Here are reasons why (in no particular order):

1. Among Austen's leading men, Tilney would probably be the jolliest or the one with the most sense of humour. He is sassy and is like a male version of Lizzie Bennet. This is notable because his profession isn't something typically associated with good humor. He is a parson but he isn't rigid and serious like Austen's other literary parsons. Also, considering that Northanger Abbey was Austen's reaction to popular Gothic novels at the time, Tilney's playfulness and sass was perhaps consciously written as a sassy contrast to the usual heroes in Gothic novels who were often dark and brooding.

2. (This I have read here in Tumblr. It was from @lavellenchanted 's reply to an anon's ask) Tilney is the most "feminine" of Austen's leading men. He knows women's fashion, reads romance novels and his best friend is his sister. As is apparent in his first meetings with Catherine, he is comfortable in the company of women.

3. He delights in and even admires Catherine's innocence, loyalty and purity of heart. Yes, he often teases her for these qualities she possesses but he never tries to change them. Actually, he is even careful not to spoil them. When he could have very much dismissed her to be gullible or stupid or told her to open her eyes about the traitors around her, he instead encouraged her to see the truth in her own way and in her own pace without trampling on her virtues (note how careful he was not to readily expose the motives and feelings of Isabella Thorpe and his own brother, Captain Tilney; not for the sake of those people but for the sake of not completely coloring Catherine's judgment). In other words, what the Thorpes saw as weaknesses in Catherine (weaknesses they can pounce on and take advantage of), Tilney viewed as admirable and superior qualities, strengths of Catherine's character he wished more people possessed. This is made even more interesting by the idea that Tilney is a bit of a cynic and a passive realist. How interesting that he should find optimism and romanticism to be attractive when he does not readily believe in them himself.

4. As for character development... Though Tilney was not much changed as other Austen leading men, he, the passive, cynic and submissive hero, eventually learned to act on his affections, believe in the powers of kindness and stand up against cruelty and greed.

5. Another interesting point about Austen leading men is how they influence the character development of the heroine. Like Mr. Knightley and Edmund Bertram, Mr. Tilney affected the heroine's development by instruction. He is like a teacher to her. But, I think, unlike the other two leading men mentioned, Tilney was not very conscious of this role of his. His conversations with Catherine, though very educational, were more motivated by a desire to tease or to entertain rather than to preach (except for that one time when she entertained silly suspicions about his mother's death). And if he ever preached to her, he did it because Catherine desired it.

6. Tilney's initial reason for liking Catherine was her first liking him. Although it is not as romantic as is expected of a novel, it's an honest depiction of most courtships. Good first impressions does not necessarily mean instant affection and commitment. Though Tilney and Catherine got along well quickly, they still fell in love slowly. Tilney did not think too seriously on their relationship until later in the story which, in some ways, make him a more relatable character for today's readers. Who goes on a first date expecting declarations of love at the end of the night? (Well, maybe some but perhaps that's not always the case).

Catherine did not know her own advantages -- did not know that a good-looking girl, with an affectionate heart and a very ignorant mind, cannot fail of attracting a clever young man, unless circumstances are particularly untoward. In the present instance, she confessed and lamented her want of knowledge, declared that she would give anything in the world to be able to draw; and a lecture on the picturesque immediately followed, in which his instructions were so clear that she soon began to see beauty in everything admired by him, and her attention was so earnest that he became perfectly satisfied of her having a great deal of natural taste.