History Literature / NorthangerAbbey

Countering the AdaptationOverdosed tendency of Austen's other works, this has to be the least adapted of all her works. It was twice adapted into {{Made for TV Movie}}s, once by Creator/TheBBC in 1986 and once by Creator/{{ITV}} in 2007. The Creator/{{PBS}} series ''Series/{{Wishbone}}'' also used it as the basis of an episode, with the eponymous dog in the role of Henry. Marvel Illustrated released a ComicBookAdaptation starting November 2011, script by Nancy Butler, pencils and inks by Janet Lee, and covers by Julian Totino Tedesco. It was also the second book given a modern day SettingUpdate by The Austen Project, written by [[Series/WireInTheBlood Val McDermid]].

* ThreeAmigos: Catherine and Eleanor and Henry Tilney.

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Catherine is described as "almost pretty" and Tilney as "if not quite handsome ... very near it." In the 2007 ITV adaptation they are played by Creator/FelicityJones and J.J. Feild, respectively.
--> '''Henry''': Nothing would give me greater pleasure, sir. *smirks at Catherine*

* RightForTheWrongReasons: Catherine's mistrust of General Tilney. Is he a murderer? No. But he ''is'' an untrustworthy Jerkass who emotionally abuses his children and kicks a teenage girl out of his house all her own with no care as to how she'll get home, for no crime other than being the subject of ''his'' false assumptions.

* HateSink: John Thorpe is James Morland’s friend and a boorish GoldDigger who seeks to marry Catherine Morland, mistakenly believing her to be a rich heiress. Desiring to have Catherine all to himself, Thorpe makes repeated attempts to sabotage her attempts to make friends with the Tilney family, making shameless lies to force her to spend time with him. Thorpe also lies to General Tilney about Catherine’s wealth to get him to drive up his own prospects. When this backfires with the General pushing Catherine towards his son Henry, Thorpe slanders Catherine to General Tilney by projecting his own situation onto Catherine’s family, prompting him to throw Catherine, who is staying with the Tilneys at this point, out of the house in the dead of night. A shameless liar who talks of nothing but carriages and horses and [[SirSwearsALot speaks with crude language]], John Thorpe is the closest thing to a BigBad in Creator/JaneAusten’s novels.

The definitive [[GothicHorror Gothic]] parody, ''Northanger Abbey'' was Creator/JaneAusten's first completed novel, which she originally entitled "Susan"; it developed further the satiric vein found in her juvenalia, such as ''Literature/LoveAndFreindship''. However, circumstances prevented the novel from being published until after her death in 1817.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: After the 2007 adaptation was broadcast, a letter to the ''Magazine/RadioTimes'' complained that the scriptwriter had added a jarring reference to baseball. That passage came word for word from the book. In fact, the OED records it as the first mention of baseball (by that name) in literature.

** Catherine "remembered that her eldest brother had lately formed an intimacy with a young man of his own college". At the time this would be a strong, deep bond known as a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romantic_friendship romantic friendship]]. Friend couples hugged, kissed, ''just'' slept together, wrote passionate letters, and pledged their devotion with rings, locks of hair and keepsakes. There were even church ceremonies to solemnize their platonic union.

* IDoNotSpeakNonverbal: Mrs. Allen explicitly doesn't. Averted by Catherine and her brother James.

** In the 2007 movie version, this is inverted, as Catherine must, to be romantic in current context, accept to marry Henry even if he becomes poor. So, he tells her first that he broke with his father because he opposed the idea of the marriage and that he'll probably be disinherited[[note]]This is total [[PragmaticAdaptation modern romanticism taking over the rule of the work's universe]] and lack of research, as this never happens in the book, wouldn't have been possible as Henry is a second son and wouldn't have inherited, and finally doesn't even happen in the movie either[[/note]], and ''then'' asks her. She ignores his father's opposition and accepts [[TearsofJoy gladly]].

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Again, everywhere.

* NaiveEverygirl: Catherine.

** Isabella Thorpe for James Morland.

%%* BuildingOfAdventure: Catherine expects the abbey to be this, and is rather disappointed when it turns out to be just an elegant building with every modern comfort.

* LemonyNarrator: Austen's most prominent use of the trope.

* TheOathBreaker: Isabella's jilting her fiancé is treated with all the gravity with which the era would regard it.

* ParentalSubstitute: Mr. Allen is a much more effective chaperone for Catherine than his wife. He checks to make sure that Mr. Tilney is a respectable young man and advises Catherine on avoiding an accidental impropriety with Thorpe (and also advises her against trying to correct her brother or Isabella, knowing how ineffective that would be).

* PerpetualFrowner: General Tilney in the ITV version. The only time he smiles is when Catherine accepts his invitation to come to Northanger Abbey, and it comes off as a PsychoticSmirk.

* {{Diary}}: Henry jokingly assumes that all young women keep a diary, and goes on to speculate that that's why they're (supposedly) so good at letter-writing. This is an early (perhaps the first) example of the word "journal" used as a verb. Henry speaks several times about "journaling", making the whole conversation sound oddly modern. The only actual journal Catherine is mentioned to use is the one her mother gave her to keep track of her money (and the narrator hints that she's not too diligent about it). Played straight in the 2007 movie, in which she is revealed, two seconds after this conversation, to be writing about the events.

The definitive [[GothicHorror Gothic]] parody, ''Northanger Abbey'' was Creator/JaneAusten's first completed novel, which she wrote as "Susan"; it developed further the satiric vein found in her juvenalia, such as ''Literature/LoveAndFreindship''. However, circumstances prevented the novel from being published until after her death in 1817.

* ConspiracyTheorist: Catherine has all these suspicions about the Tilneys and the abbey, all of them based on nothing except conventions of Gothic novels, and jumping to wild conclusions based on tiny discrepancies in what she thinks someone's behaviour should be. For this, she earns the title of IdiotHero, because although she tends to be smart if naive in other matters, here she drops down right into deep stupidity. She [[CharacterDevelopment gets better, though]].

* ParentsAsPeople: Mr. and Mrs. Morland love their many children, but their greatest compliment to their daughter is to say that she is "almost pretty today." (It actually doesn't bother Catherine at all because she's always been an OutdoorsyGal who's only recently learned to care about being pretty.) They also read James' letter of heartbreak and betrayal about Isabella and conclude that it's probably good for him to have it happen at a young age because he'll recover and know better. Similarly, while they're angry at General Tilney they feel that Catherine's long journey was a good learning experience to manage herself, and can't figure out that her low spirits are more from her ill-treatment until handsome Henry turns up.

* SacredHospitality: General Tilney violates this rule when he learns that the Morlands aren't as rich as he thought, prompting him to eject Catherine from Northanger Abbey with a transparent excuse and sends her home in a public coach with no attending servant. (This would still be rude today, but back then was truly heinous because he was chucking her out unprotected--although the roads at that time were much safer, highwaymen and other dangers hadn't left the public imagination.) His violation of Sacred Hospitality is how the reader fully sees his true colours. His children Henry and Eleanor are distressed by his treatment of Catherine.

* ShoutOut: The text is peppered with references to the literature of the day. There are numerous direct references to famous Gothic novels, such asCatherine and Isabella reading through ''The Mysteries of Udolpho'' together. The narrator also juxtaposes Catherine's actions against the behavior that certain heroines in similar situations displayed, which are not always direct allusions but would be recognizable to novel enthusiasts of the day (or modern readers with a broad knowledge of Gothic literature).

* BuildingOfAdventure: Catherine expects the abbey to be this, and is rather disappointed when it turns out to be just an elegant building with every modern comfort.

* CompletelyMissingThePoint: The Paperback Library printing of this book, egregiously so. They [[http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/nhabgoth.jpg mistook it for]] [[http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/nabgoth2.gif an actual Gothic novel]] of the sort that it parodies. [[HilarityEnsues Hilarity ensued]]. Could also count as a ContemptibleCover.
* ConversationalTroping: EVERYWHERE!

* DeadpanSnarker: The narrator. Also Henry Tilney, who might be described as spear version of Elizabeth Bennett.

* ChekhovsGun: Deliberately invoked by the {{Narrator}} to ''deliberately narrowly avert'' an AssPull! It's thoroughly lampshaded by the narrator, who says she knows it's "against the rules" to introduce a character like this at the eleventh hour and therefore points to the laundry list as sufficient foreshadowing.

* LadyInRed: In the ITV version, Isabella is seen walking with Captain Tilney, wearing a red dress. They enter a room and when she's seen again, she's shown curled up in bedsheets, implying she had sex with Captain Tilney.

* AwkwardlyPlacedBathtub: When Catherine is in her bath, she drifts into fantasy and her bathroom becomes a symbolically fertile woodland grove. Then Henry stops by to [[DoubleEntendre admire the view]], so to speak.

* SwordFight: One of Catherine's dreams features a duel between Henry Tilney and a dastardly ruffian resembling a creepy young man at the dance the previous evening. The young man is later introduced as John Thorpe. This serves as foreshadowing of the young men's vying for Catherine's affections (more aggressively on Thorpe's part).

* BadassBaritone: Henry Tilney and John Thorpe have deep, resonant voices in the ITV version. Since Thorpe is evil, he qualifies for EvilSoundsDeep.

* HugeGuyTinyGirl: In the ITV adaptation, JJ Feild’s Henry looms over Felicity Jones’ Catherine.

* LampshadeHanging: ''Everywhere''.

* SacredHospitality: General Tilney violates this rule when he learns that the Morlands aren't as rich as he thought, prompting him to eject Catherine from Northanger Abbey with a transparent excuse and sends her home in a public coach with no attending servant. (This doesn't sound so horrible today, but back then it meant deliberate insult.) His violation of Sacred Hospitality is how the reader fully sees his true colours. His children Henry and Eleanor are distressed by his treatment of Catherine.

* SpoofAesop: Only by Henry proposing to Catherine against his father's wishes is a happy ending possible. The second page quote discusses the trope.

* LighterAndSofter: Austen's shortest book, with a much more overtly comedic tone than her others.

** Isabella fears this from James's parents. She actually seems disappointed when Catherine assures her that Mr. and Mrs. Morland wouldn't do such a thing. (Possibly because it means that their family finances are less unequal than Isabella had hoped.)

* SacredHospitality: General Tilney invites Catherin in his house because he wants her to marry his son Henry. One day, he suddenly throws her out with a lame excuse and sends her away in a public coach with no attending servant. (This doesn't sound so horrible today, but back then it meant deliberate insult.) The reason for all that was, he found out she wasn't as rich as he thought. His violation of Sacred Hospitality is how the reader fully sees his true colours. His children Henry and Eleanor are distressed by his treatment of Catherine.

* SuddenlySuitableSuitor: The ''deus ex machina'' ending. Eleanor is able to marry her love because he unexpectedly inherited money and aristocratic title.

* AuthorFilibuster: Austen screeches the plot to a halt early on to rant about how novels are undeservedly thought of as low art.

* {{Diary}}: Whether Catherine actually keeps one is never mentioned in the novel, but Henry jokingly assumes that all young women do, and goes on to speculate that that's why they're (supposedly) so good at letter-writing. This is an early (perhaps the first) example of the word "journal" used as a verb. Henry speaks several times about "journaling", making the whole conversation sound oddly modern. Played straight in the 2007 movie, in which she is revealed, two seconds after this conversation, to be writing about the events.

* GoodParents: Catherine's parents, Mr and Mrs Morland are loving, reasonable and responsible people who value happiness of all their children. Mr Morland agrees to James' engagement to Isabella Thorpe; a girl he loves but who has no dowry. James and Catherine think that their father is both supportive and fair and gives them as much as he can, considering his large family, while the Thorpes think Mr Morland is being mean and should give them more. Mrs Morland is very good, practical and kind, though she fails to see that Catherine is actually lovesick when she returns home from the Abbey. She's also very nice to Henry when she does not hold his father's rudeness to Catherine against him.

* SacredHospitality: General Tilney invites Catherinr in his house because he wants her to marry his son Henry. One day, he suddenly throws her out with a lame excuse and sends her away in a public coach with no attending servant. (This doesn't sound so horrible today, but back then it meant deliberate insult.) The reason for all that was, he found out she wasn't as rich as he thought. His violation of Sacred Hospitality is how the reader fully sees his true colours. His children Henry and Eleanor are distressed by his treatment of Catherine.

%% * ShoutOut: To numerous pieces of literature from its day.

* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: Isabella Thorpe, Catherine Morland and Eleanor Tilney in the ITV version.