Northanger abbey torrent

Catherine Morland : [voiceover]. The Voice of Jane Austen : To begin perfect happiness at the respective ages of 26 and 18 is to do pretty well. Catherine and Henry were married, and in due course the joys of wedding gave way to the blessing of a christening. The bells rang and everyone smiled. No one more than so than Eleanor, whose beloved's sudden ascension to title and fortune finally allowed them to marry.

I leave it to be settled whether the tendency of this story be to recommend parental tyranny or to reward filial disobedience. Sign In. Drama Romance. A young woman's penchant for sensational Gothic novels leads to misunderstandings in the matters of the heart. Director Jon Jones. Andrew Davies screenplay Jane Austen novel. Top credits Director Jon Jones. See more at IMDbPro. Photos Top cast Edit. Michael Judd Pastor as Pastor. Liam McMahon Sedley as Sedley. Jon Jones. More like this.

Watch options. Storyline Edit. When Catherine Morland is given the opportunity to stay with the childless Allen family in Bath, she is hoping for an adventure of the type she has been reading in novels. Soon introduced to society, she meets Isabella Thorpe and her brother John, a good friend of her own brother, James. She also meets Henry Tilney, a handsome young man from a good family and his sister, Eleanor.

But the whole occasion is cut so short that the viewer is left wondering what Catherine sees in him. John Thorpe, on the other hand, is present even too much at the beginning. The way he follows Catherine around everywhere, both with his eyes and body, is more reminiscent of a stalker than a suitor.

And then, all of a sudden, he disappears. The friendship between Catherine and Isabella was developed too quickly too. One day they meet, the next Isabella reveals her love for James, and then the young man rushes to his parents to obtain their permission to marry. They are a huge part of her personality, but if the movie-makers thought them so important, then they should have made the movie longer to fit everything in nicely.

Why is Catherine interested in Henry? Why is John Thorpe interested in Catherine? Publication date Usage Public Domain Topics librivox , literature , humor , audiobook.

Librivox recording of Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen. Northanger Abbey is a hilarious parody of 18th century gothic novels. The heroine, year old Catherine, has been reading far too many "horrid" gothic novels and would love to encounter some gothic-style terror -- but the superficial world of Bath proves hazardous enough.

For more free audiobooks, or to become a volunteer reader, please visit librivox. Download M4B MB. Thorpe, she meets her daughter Isabella, a vivacious and flirtatious young woman, and the two quickly become friends. Thorpe's son John is also a friend of Catherine's older brother, James, at Oxford where they are both students.

The Thorpes are not happy about Catherine's friendship with the Tilneys, as they correctly perceive Henry as a rival for Catherine's affections, though Catherine is not at all interested in the crude John Thorpe. Catherine tries to maintain her friendships with both the Thorpes and the Tilneys, though John Thorpe continuously tries to sabotage her relationship with the Tilneys.

This leads to several misunderstandings, which put Catherine in the awkward position of having to explain herself to the Tilneys. View 1 comment. Catherine Morland is your typical seventeen -year- old -girl, of the turn of the century 19th, that is. She reads too much, an illness that is sadly terminal, Gothic books are her passion and the rage of the era. Any ancient home that is eerie , ominous or sinister the young lady would enjoy seeing, if there were any in the area.

She lives in a quiet English village, too quiet where everyone knows each other, which keeps the populous from misadventures. Her parents have ten children and sur Catherine Morland is your typical seventeen -year- old -girl, of the turn of the century 19th, that is. Her parents have ten children and surprisingly, her mother is alive and healthy.

Miss Morland's father is a well to do clergyman, but with all those kids, nobody would know especially Catherine. Allen a wealthy neighbor is going on a six -week vacation to Bath, with Mr. Allen he has the fashionable gout , the most famous resort in England.

Allen needs an agreeable companion to talk to, she's rather silly, asks Catherine. Her chief interest is clothes, still how long can you speak about fashion, before it gets tiresome? The fatigued husband doesn't stay in her presence very long. Arriving in town is exciting and daunting, soon people start to notice Miss Catherine Morland particularly young men, a new experience for her. She grew up a tomboy playing outside with the boys, not inside with dolls. Yet the last three years her homely awkwardness has vanished, a pleasant, pretty appearance she acquires that even her astonished mother, acknowledges.

Catherine soon forms a friendship with Isabella Thorpe a beautiful, deceitful, gold digger, her family has little, but she has It doesn't take long to discover that Catherine's brother James, and Isabella's brother John, are best friends, so naturally the two ladies also become too.

Then the brothers of the girls come to town, unexpectedly. Catherine loves her plain looking older brother, and you can imagine the shock that she feels, when James and Isabella become engaged! Yes, it's the first time Catherine has been out of her insulated village, of Fullerton. Still true love has a rocky road to travel, when it isn't. Henry Tilney a wealthy man's son, meets the charming Catherine at a dance.

She has eyes for him, but so does Isabella's annoying brother John, for her he's always talking about his horses. However Henry's older brother Captain Frederick Tilney, arrives too, very popular Bath is for romance and starts flirting with Isabella, which she doesn't mind but James does. He has more money than Catherine's brother. The resort is famous for the miraculous waters, though most go there for the dancing, plays, card games and walking around in the Grand Pump Room and meeting the rich Showing everyone who's interested they're in town, nobody is Amazingly a real Gothic house with his son, and daughter Eleanor, another friend of Catherine 's and stay a few weeks.

The girl with a wild imagination is thrilled, finally, all Catherine's dreams have come to pass View all 59 comments. We can't all be as witty and perceptive as Lizzie, and we hopefully aren't as meddling and silly as Emma.

But Catherine? Well, she's somewhere in the middle of normal. She's not always as clever as she wishes, she's not the wealthiest heiress in the room, and she's not always sure of what she's doing.

She's just Also, she loves a good gothic novel. Catherine seemed kind of silly and ignorant at first glance, but as the book goes on you realize that it's just that she's young and trusting. As the story goes on, you see her slowly come into herself, find her voice, and learn how to stand up to the characters that would lead her to do the wrong thing. And then there's Northanger Abby.

Which, all things considered, wasn't all that interesting. There were a few funny moments when she first arrived and tried her hand at becoming a gothic heroine, but I hoped there would be more to it than that. And Henry? He's the male version of Catherine. He's not some dashing Superman, he's just a nice normal guy who does the right thing. I was maybe happier for these two lovebirds when they beat the odds than I am for a lot of literary couples because they were just so damn regular.

I read this 10 years ago and decided to listen to it on audiobook this time around. Loved it! Wanda McCaddon was the narrator and she was absolutely wonderful. View all 21 comments. Jun 01, Bill Kerwin rated it really liked it Shelves: 19th-c-brit , gothic. A charming early Austen novel filled with overt criticism of Mrs. Radcliffe and implied criticism of Fanny Burney.

Her heroine Catharine Morland is a charming naif in the Evelina mode--perhaps just a little too naive, and therein lies some of the criticism--who is fascinated by all things gothic and therefore misinterprets much of what she sees, manufacturing the sinister in a score of places A charming early Austen novel filled with overt criticism of Mrs.

Her heroine Catharine Morland is a charming naif in the Evelina mode--perhaps just a little too naive, and therein lies some of the criticism--who is fascinated by all things gothic and therefore misinterprets much of what she sees, manufacturing the sinister in a score of places and yet not recognizing real evil when it stares her in the face.

The book, while filled with good sense, is nevertheless lighthearted and very funny, and may well be the sunniest of Austen's works. May 19, Merphy Napier rated it it was amazing Shelves: five-stars , adult , classics. Hilarious, charming, fast paced, Jane Austen's writing read:perfect I loved this book so much Hilarious, charming, fast paced, Jane Austen's writing read:perfect I loved this book so much Aug 08, Greta rated it really liked it Shelves: classics , best-reviews.

The story focuses on Catherine Morland, a seventeen year old girl, who grew up in a rural setting. As she becomes a young adult, she fells in love with books and gets the opportunity to accompany her wealthy neighbours to Bath and partake in the winter season of balls, theatre and other social delights. Soon she is introduced to a new world, much alike as she read about in her books, and meets the clever young gentleman, Henry Tilney.

She also makes a new best friend Isabella, a vivacious and flirtatious young woman, who turns out to be different from what Cathrine thought she would be. Soon she visits the mysterious castle Northanger Abbey and has to learn that the real world differs from what is described in her books Catherine Morland Cathrine Morland in the movie adaption Catherine is 17 years old and raised in a rural parsonage with nine siblings.

She is open, honest, and naive about the hypocritical ways of the society in Bath. Her family is neither rich nor poor, and she is unaware of how much meaning many people put in wealth and rank. Catherine loves novels, particularly Gothic novels set in castles and abandoned abbeys, and hopes to experience some of the thrills portrayed in these novels herself. When she is taken to the holiday town of Bath by wealthy friends of her family, she begins to learn the ways of the world.

Over the course of the novel, she proves herself capable of learning from her experiences, while maintaining her honesty, goodness, and loyalty to those whom she loves. Henry Tilney Catherine with the smart, funny and witty Henry Henry is probably my favorite male Austen character so far.

He is smart, witted, charming and unusually funny. He is often amused by Catherine's naive nature, and playfully guides her to a better understanding, while being gentle and caring. Though less than ten years older than Catherine, Henry is far more perceptive than she, probably the most perceptive figure in the novel.

Henry has read hundreds of books and, as a clergyman, hundreds of people, and this has given him an understanding of human interaction far superior to that of his friends and relatives. Novels Cathrine is suddenly lives in a castle of Northanger Abbey - just as she reads about in her books During the time the novel was written, the popularity of sentimental and Gothic novels had exploded and novel reading had become an obsession, especially for women.

Sentimental novels often portrayed the difficulties faced by a heroine in her pursuit of love and happiness, while Gothic novels placed this same plot into an dramatic context, by setting them in spooky old castles during exciting historical times and by including supernatural elements. Many thought about those novels as silly, and worried that the dramatic stories of love would influence young women to disobey their families when selecting a spouse.

Northanger Abbey presents novels as influencing readers to explore the world and seek to understand it, but also shows, that this can lead to trouble. That trouble, however, can often lead to better self-understanding and a broader understanding of the world. Sincerity and Hypocrisy Catherine with the dishonest Isabella Catherine has grown up in a rural setting, being told explicitly how others viewed her and her behavior, but those she meets in Bath society sometimes lie about or hide their true opinions to influence or manipulate others.

Their declarations not to care about money are much too overstated to be believable by anyone with a bit of experience. Loyalty and Love Cathrine and Henry outside of the castle of Northanger Abbey In most of the sentimental novels of that time, the heroine is exceptionally beautiful and the hero is head over heels in love with her, but in Northanger Abbey the roles are reserved.

Catherine is attracted to Henry, and it is her obvious love for him, rather than his admiration of her, that binds him to her. In many of the novels that Cathrine reeds, love is an almost magical state of emotional attachment and physical attraction.

But Austen makes the case that for a marriage to work, there should be a conscious decision to enter into a contract and abide by it. Austen also looks closely at the role wealth plays in social relationships and marriage.

Most of the characters in Northanger Abbey are not aristocrats, but members of the landed gentry. This class drew its wealth from the land it owned and tried to marry their children to members of the nobility. But these are far from the only factors that determine social status. View all 15 comments.

Northanger Abbey is the shortest of Jane Austen's six major novels, and has a special place in many readers' hearts. In many ways it is not the tightly constructed witty sort of story we expect from this author, yet its spontaneity and rough edges prove to be part of its charm.

Started when she was very young, it should perhaps more properly be classed as part of her juvenilia. What lifts it above the other earlier works, however, is the skill she demonstrates for writing a parody of all the got Northanger Abbey is the shortest of Jane Austen's six major novels, and has a special place in many readers' hearts. What lifts it above the other earlier works, however, is the skill she demonstrates for writing a parody of all the gothic romantic novels which were so popular at the time.

And this aspect is twinned with another of Jane Austen's concerns, a satirical observation of human nature within a narrow band of society; a comedy of manners. There are many literary allusions, which focus on the gothic genre. At the time Jane Austen was writing, novels - especially gothic novels of this type - were looked down upon by many people, particularly those of the upper classes.

It is likely that a young writer would therefore feel that she needed a strong position from which to defend her craft against any critics who might in future disparage her work. At one point, where Catherine, the heroine, is chatting to her friend, she asks Isabella for suggestions. Her friend replies, "I will read you their names directly; here they are, in my pocket-book.

Those will last us some time. This particular sort of comedy is lacking in Jane Austen's subsequent novels, which perhaps are a little more cautious in their wit and irony, being intended for a wider audience. Northanger Abbey was meant mainly as family entertainment, which is why Austen mischievously includes so many literary references, which she expected her relatives to pick up and recognise.

Jane Austen also addresses the reader directly throughout the novel, and sometimes voices her own opinions quite forcefully, forgetting the story for a moment.

But perhaps she had an eye to the future, considering that attack is the best form of defence, and writing this way quite deliberately in anticipation of any critical assessment.

As these passages burst upon us, we are provided with a little insight into Austen's opinions at the time. Famously, very little remains extant, to show us her opinions, due to her instructions to her sister Cassandra to burn all her letters after her death.

Originally Northanger Abbey was entitled "Susan" and written around It was the first of her novels to be submitted for publication, in However, it was not in fact published until , after further revision by the author, including changing the main character's name from "Susan" to "Catherine".

Jane Austen died in July The two novels Northanger Abbey and "Persuasion" her final novel were thus both published posthumously, comprising the first two volumes of a four-volume set. Interestingly, neither title was her own invention, but probably that of her brother, Henry, who had been instrumental in their publication.

As well as being a Gothic parody, and a comedy of manners, Northanger Abbey is a coming of age novel, another favourite theme from Jane Austen. The first sentence, "No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy, would have supposed her born to be an heroine" sets the very droll, tongue in cheek tone for the writing.

Catherine is not particularly pretty or feminine, and one of ten children of a country clergyman. However, by the age of 17, we are told that she is "in training for a heroine" , having all the attributes considered desirable in a young girl at the time.

The reader enjoys Catherine's youthful enthusiasm and also how impressionable she is. She has crazes, such as being excessively fond of reading Gothic novels - the more "horrid" she claims with glee, the better.

She takes everything at face value, at the start of the novel being unable to see any deviousness, or any baser motives. Catherine is not very perceptive, not ever able to interpret what may lie behind certain actions if it is negative. We follow Catherine's progress, as she is invited by some wealthier neighbours in Fullerton, the Allens, to accompany them to visit the fashionable town of Bath. There she is introduced to society over the winter season, through attending balls and the theatre.

So although it is constantly referred to, there is in fact little gothic feel in the whole first half of the novel. It is much more similar to Jane Austen's later novels, both in its setting, and its preoccupations. It is concerned with young people and their feelings; how they mature, and how their marriage prospects improve as a consequence. In this aspect, all Jane Austen's novels are very similar, and all of them have reassuringly happy endings.

Jane Austen is always keen to entertain her readers! Catherine's amiability and good character is further demonstrated through her making friends, in Bath, with a confident older girl, Isabella Thorpe, the daughter of Mrs Allen's old school-friend.

The reader can see straightaway that Isabella is far more savvy and ambitious than Catherine, and possibly manipulating her new friend. Isabella has a brother, John whom Catherine is delighted to find is also a friend of her older brother, James. Both young men are fellow students at Oxford University.

However she and the reader takes an instant dislike to John, finding him pompous, brash, boastful and overbearing. In the meantime she has met a witty and clever young gentleman, Henry Tilney, and enjoyed his company and conversation. The reader can deduce that, at 17, she is well on the way to falling in love with this intelligent and polite, slightly older and more experienced gentleman.

The novel has several social situations which, although very much of their time, reveal essential aspects of human nature which are timeless.

The difficulties facing Catherine are difficulties and situations common to all teenagers. There is embarrassment, a feeling of gaucheness and several occasions where the peer pressure is very strong, such as when James, Isabella and John try to persuade her to join them when she had made a former promise for another engagement.

Catherine also has to learn how to stay polite and resolute when she is bullied by John Thorpe. And when she eventually returns home to her parents, uncomprehending of why she has been treated in such a shameful way, the reader is treated to the common enough spectacle of a moody, sulky teenager. For the second half of the novel the setting has switched to Northanger Abbey itself, as Catherine has received an invitation to stay there.

The tone becomes slightly darker, and the viewpoint switches to be almost entirely from Catherine's perspective, using free indirect narration.

Everything is presented from Catherine's point of view, which leads to some hilarious moments, due to her romantic notions of what an ancient abbey should be like. The reader has been well prepared for this, through conversations between Catherine and Henry Tilney. Here she is very excited about the prospect of a visit to the abbey, "You have formed a very favourable idea of the abbey.

Is not it a fine old place, just like what one reads about? Have you a stout heart? Nerves fit for sliding panels and tapestry? Will not your heart sink within you? Sure enough, our innocent heroine's expectations increase on the journey, "As they drew near the end of their journey, her impatience for a sight of the abbey To pass between lodges of a modern appearance, to find herself with such ease in the very precincts of the abbey, and driven so rapidly along a smooth, level road of fine gravel, without obstacle, alarm, or solemnity of any kind, struck her as odd and inconsistent The windows, to which she looked with peculiar dependence, from having heard the general talk of his preserving them in their Gothic form with reverential care, were yet less what her fancy had portrayed.

To be sure, the pointed arch was preserved - the form of them was Gothic - they might be even casements - but every pane was so large, so clear, so light! To an imagination which had hoped for the smallest divisions, and the heaviest stone-work, for painted glass, dirt, and cobwebs, the difference was very distressing.

One of the interesting aspects of Northanger Abbey , however, is that passages such as these seem to indicate she incorporates her reading experience as well as her real-life experience; it is just as much a product of the Gothic novels that she herself read.

One of the highlights of the novel is where Henry Tilney teases Catherine about the "horrid" contents of such novels. Typically there would be a crumbling old building, possibly an abbey, once used to house nuns or monks. The abbey would then become abandoned and derelict, and later bought by an evil lord or baron. Dastardly deeds would occur in the ancient edifice, once the lord or baron took possession, and the once holy nature of the abbey would become an ironic feature in these Gothic novels.

Northanger Abbey is a dreadful disappointment for Catherine, who had imagined herself as the heroine of a Gothic novel. Living out her imaginative fantasies, she was hoping to be thrilled by mystery, horror, and sinister and macabre deeds from an earlier time.

She had found Bath to be a pleasant tourist town, interesting for her to visit, but in Catherine's mind, the Abbey would inevitably be a place of new heightened experiences.

At every point where the Abbey turns out to be conventional and normal, Catherine remembers the abbeys from her favourite gothic novels, deliberately frightening herself to complete her thrilling anticipations, "The night was stormy; the wind had been rising at intervals the whole afternoon; and by the time the party broke up, it blew and rained violently. Catherine, as she crossed the hall, listened to the tempest with sensations of awe; and, when she heard it rage round a corner of the ancient building and close with sudden fury a distant door, felt for the first time that she was really in an abbey.

Her imagination runs riot at what this could be, but it eventually turns out to be simply a laundry list. Here is the start of this episode, "she was struck by the appearance of a high, old-fashioned black cabinet, which, though in a situation conspicuous enough, had never caught her notice before. She took her candle and looked closely at the cabinet It was some time however before she could unfasten the door, the same difficulty occurring in the management of this inner lock as of the outer; but at length it did open; and not vain, as hitherto, was her search; her quick eyes directly fell on a roll of paper pushed back into the further part of the cavity, apparently for concealment, and her feelings at that moment were indescribable.

Her heart fluttered, her knees trembled, and her cheeks grew pale. She seized, with an unsteady hand, the precious manuscript, for half a glance sufficed to ascertain written characters; and while she acknowledged with awful sensations this striking exemplification of what Henry had foretold, resolved instantly to peruse every line before she attempted to rest. We also hold in our minds the strong suspicion that what Catherine is to discover may be quite ordinary and unremarkable, and are eager for the heroine to be thwarted and become crestfallen - yet there is just a tiny possibility remaining in our minds that there is indeed something "most horrid".

Here is the culmination of the ironic humour in this episode, when Catherine is plunged into darkness, "Catherine, for a few moments, was motionless with horror. It was done completely; not a remnant of light in the wick could give hope to the rekindling breath. Darkness impenetrable and immovable filled the room. A violent gust of wind, rising with sudden fury, added fresh horror to the moment. Catherine trembled from head to foot. In the pause which succeeded, a sound like receding footsteps and the closing of a distant door struck on her affrighted ear.

Human nature could support no more. A cold sweat stood on her forehead, the manuscript fell from her hand, and groping her way to the bed, she jumped hastily in, and sought some suspension of agony by creeping far underneath the clothes.

She does not realise, as the reader does, that General Tilney is an outright snob, constantly anxiously comparing his home and gardens with those of Mr. These parts, and the depiction of General Tilney's character which, oddly, is very similar to the character of Mr. Elliot, the father of the heroine Anne in Jane Austen's final novel, "Persuasion" is one of the most amusing parts to the reader.

General Tilney is always so very pleased to find that his belongings are larger or more impressive than those of Mr. Of course, the justification for this, is that he wants his children to marry into rich and wealthy families. The people Jane Austen identifies with and writes about are a very narrow band of the gentry.

Tradesmen, and anyone who works for a living, are to be looked down on. The aristocracy are often to be poked fun at. Jane Austen's heroes and heroines are frequently from good families, but have fallen on hard times. They are almost invariably impoverished gentlefolk. She has no idea of the love interests surrounding her, not seeming to notice view spoiler [the romance which is developing between James and Isabella, and being equally puzzled when Isabella flirts with Frederick Tilney.

Catherine does not pick up that Isabella, despite her protestations to the contrary, is dismayed on learning of James's limited future income. Catherine also has no idea why the General is so courteous and solicitous of her, merely believing him to be exceptionally kind.

There is a conflict in her mind, as she also believes him capable of murdering his wife.