Jane Austen - Northanger Abbey & Pride and Prejudice

Of the 3 Jane Austen books I've read so far, Northanger Abbey is my favourite. I think Jane Austen was at her best in her early writing career, when she was writing mainly to entertain herself and her family - before she became a "serious novelist". (Same thoughts on early vs. late Evelyn Waugh. Although who knows how I might feel as I get older?)

Northanger Abbey is a comedic novel - itself an underrated art form - in which the characters and events are but mere vehicles for social satire. Here Jane Austen makes merciless fun of Bath society, no doubt the immediate result of her stay there.

Check out the cast of characters: Catherine, the impressionable heroine - neither good nor bad. Mrs. Allen, the typical vapid auntie character often found in Austen's books (think Lizzy Bennet's mum). Isabella Thorpe, Catherine's fake friend and a scheming, man-eating bitch. John Thorpe, blundering bloke who fancies Catherine with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Then there's Catherine's crush Henry Tilney, an artsy fellow whom I thought was gay but turned out to be in love with Catherine.

As for the plot: let me just summarise it by saying it involves several broken engagements, misunderstandings resulting in a love triangle, and an imagined undead wife in the attic (from reading too many gothic novels). But you don't read Austen for the plot.

I don't think it's a good idea to watch any adaptations of Pride & Prejudice before reading the book. But what's done is done. It turns out that the 1995 Andrew Davies BBC series (with Colin Firth, yes) was so faithful to the book that entire chapters played out in my head as though I were watching it again.

At first, anyway. Then differences began to jump out. First I noticed it in the characters. I felt that Lizzy Bennet was not quite Jennifer Ehl's Lizzy Bennet, nor was Darcy in the novel exactly Colin Firth's Darcy. 

In the book, Lizzy and her sister Jane are more effective foils for each other. Jane is optimistic, charitable, placid - her fatal flaw, however, is being TOO placid. Lizzy on the other hand, is smart, observant, but quick to anger and allow her emotions to cloud her judgment. Neither sister can see the complete truth, so they have to have little huddles to compare notes. I love it. To me the sisters are the real love story in this book.

I do think the Lizzy/Darcy thing was well done though. As I read I became aware that I was reading the Platonic precursor to that enemies-to-lovers trope so commonly found in romance novels. But of course Austen does it better, because of her restraint in depicting emotions and characters. At no point do we see Lizzy's internal monologue as she struggles with her feelings re: Darcy; we know only that she went on many walks to cool her agitated head. Less is more!

Compared to the TV show, in the book you see more of Darcy's character development as he gets to know Lizzy. He's quite imperious and entitled in the beginning, up to the point of proposing marriage - he assumes the answer is yes. After his rejection you do see that he is humbled and begins to reflect on how his actions impact others. I suppose his bubble of wealth meant he never had that chance - people always deferred to him no matter how he treated them. The two-sided character development made the romance arc satisfying.