Q. We are told that Catherine Morland was decidedly 'not born to be a heroine'. Why was this character created as simple and naive?
Austen has depicted her protagonist as simple and naive drawing attention to concerns such as foolishness, a hyperactive imagination and its effects on a person's life and relationships. Austen also succeeds to reveal the ridiculousness of Gothic novels by presenting Catherine's obsession with them and how she makes false assumptions entirely based upon her reading material. Austen presents these concerns in a light-hearted, humorous and mocking tone due to which the readers get attacked to the novel and its characters.
Catherine Morland is illustrated, by Austen, as a small town girl who temporarily moves to a higher society and learns of how people interact and learns to judge them properly through her experiences there. Austen situated Catherine among people who tend to deceive her. By pointing Catherine's gullible attitude towards such people as Isabella and John, Austen emphasises on her simple upbringing. She sets a contrast between the Thorpes and the Morlands and lets the reader decide who the better person is. In this way Austen also presents Catherine as a not-so0heroic character instead perhaps a pitiful character compared to Isabella who seemingly gets what she wants through her skill of persuasion and and exaggerated compliments. Yet Austen also shows how Catherine gets a happy ending and Isabella does not. This way the readers pick up that being simple and naive can not stop one from having a heroic story and also no tot judge a character based on first impressions.
Austen also creates Catherine this way to highlight one of her morals: to learn from others. When we are first introduced to Catherine we see that since she is somewhat ignorant in terms of education and as her story proceeds we notice her obsession to Gothic novels. Despite all her reading she is foolish enough to fall for Isabella's false promises of friendship and John's lies about the Tilneys. Austen, despite that, shows us how Catherine learnt from the Tilneys and learnt from h er mistakes. Though she is initially noticed to have no interest in art she is portrayed to listen intently to Henry Tilney about it. Though she is fooled by Isabella, Austen depicts how the Tilneys help her join the puzzle pieces together and help her realise the truth about Isabella and her brother; of how Isabella broke James Morland's heart by cheating on him and how John succeeded in ruining her relationship with Henry and Eleanor Tilney. This reminds readers that it is perhaps never too late to learn and that perhaps the right person helps you mature much how Henry helps Catherine mature.
An important point Austen sheds light upon through Catherine is how it is a mistake to be impressed by wealth. Catherine does not fall for Henry based on his wealth, rather his intellect and this is the same reason she does not like John. Her simplicity here is highlighted by Austen. It is painted to have saved her from the same fate as Isabella who loses the man who truly loved her because she cheats on him with a wealthier man. If Catherine was not presented with this simplicity perhaps she might not have been able to marry Henry at all; perhaps her marriage would have ended up like Julia Burton and Mr. Rushworth's marriage in 'Mansfield Park' (also by Jane Austen): broken. This teaches readers that simplicity and satisfaction are the key to a happy life and better than ruthless ambition to have more.
Austen displays Catherine so that the readers can't help but adore her. She depicts her as a relatable character and provides readers with images of her mental growth. By the end of the novel we see that Catherine has learnt the realists of the world and has her head out of the cloud or rather, out of her hyperactive imagination causing Gothic fiction! Austen shows us that a person does not need to be cunning or sharp to become a hero. She presents us with the idea that with the right guidance anyone can become one. She ends the novel on a beautiful note by giving Catherine the happy ending she deserves giving readers hope that despite what happen s in life if one remains true to oneself, like Catherine, one will receive their rewards.
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English Literature 9695
No FicciónThis is a compilation of all the essays and notes I wrote while I was in ALevels. It must be noted that not all of of these are A* material (though none goes lower than a grade B) so they aren't meant to be copy pasted for your school assignments. U...
