The charming Henry Tilney

The character of Henry Tilney is depicted as a charming gentleman. He is perceived in the scene when Catherine meets him in the pump room at Bath: “The master of the ceremonies introduced to her a very gentlemanlike young man as a partner; his name was Tilney.” After describing his physical appearance, the narrator informs us about him that “if not quite handsome, was very near it.” He shows “archness and pleasantry” as features that foreshadow darker aspects of this character later in the novel. He talks in a lively and fluent way, which makes his chatting “hardly understood by her.”

This charm suddenly disappears after his proposal, when he becomes awkward and self-conscious. In their visit to Mrs Allen, he “talked at random”. Later on, providing account for his father's behaviour, he “was almost as pitiable as in the first avowal of himself”, and he showed a physical reaction, “he blushed”.

Henry is portrayed as charming but he is not the most charming because he has to yield this title to the hidden character that appears in the end as a deus in machina to assume the role of Eleanor’s fiancé. This last character is described as “the most charming young man in the world”.  

The scholar Joseph Litvack argues for the “feminization” of Henry Tilney, as shown in the fact that he is only a student in Oxford, which implies his powerlessness, a position that is more proper of women in the literature of the 19^th century.  His archness and sophisticated wit also add to this feminization. This anticipates more “manly” protagonists of Jane’s Austen novels, including the monosyllabic Darcy in “Pride of Perjudice”.

Henry Tilney is portrayed as charming by his archness, sophisticated wit, physical appearance, and lively talk. This feature disappears after the engagement. It also is a term of contrast, interior with Eleanor’s fiancé, and exterior with other Jane Austen protagonists.

Generational conflict in “Northanger Abbey”

 

The object of this post is to discuss the generational conflict in “Nothanger Abbey” based on Patricia Meyer Spacks analysis in “Muted Discord: Generational Conflict in Jane Austen” from the book “Jane Austen in a Social Context” (1981).

The final clause settles the novel on this topic of intergenerational relationships: “I leave it to be settled, by whomsoever it may concern, whether the tendency of this work be altogether to recommend parental tyranny, or reward filial disobedience.” This ending serves as a rhetorical inclusion, providing a hermeneutic lens to the whole work.

Catherine, the protagonist, lives in a world of imagination shaped by the Gothic novels that she avid and excessively reads. In contrast, she understands the real world through the interaction with various characters, including General Tilney, the Allens and her own parents.

During her trip to Bath, the Allens assume a parental role. However, the absence of Mr Allen and the self-interest of Mrs Allen show their inadequacy for this role. For one thing, Mrs Allen is only interested in clothes and patterns of muslin. In addition to that, Catherine reproaches Mrs Allen that she did not warn her about the danger of going with the boorish John Thorpe on an excursion.

General Tilney adopts an ingratiating and tyrannical position. Initially, she blames him for the notional death of his wife. Further in the novel, he develops his life in a dream and is not able to distinguish between the grandeur or squalor that John credits the Morlands with. Finally, the young couple is going to be married under the condition of parental consent that he must bestow on them.

When Catherine is expelled by the high-handed General from the Abbey, she is foisted back on her family. Nonetheless, she finds a welcoming household at Fullerton. However, Ms Morland puts Catherine under scrutiny by questioning her about what she did wrong during her stay with the Tilneys.

Young and naïve Catherine needs the guidance of her elders, such as General Tilney, the Morlands, and the Allens, in order to understand the world that surrounds her.

 

The anti-romantic characters of "Nothinger Abbey"

The object of this post is to summarize the opinion of Q. D. Leavis on the anti-romantic approach to the characters of “Northanger Abbey” as discussed in “A Critical Theory of Jane Austen’s Writings”, Scrutiny 10.1: 61-66; 68-71.

Jane Austen describes Catherine, the protagonist, as an anti-heroine. Instead of holding the traditional values of femineity, such as quickness in forming romantical attachments, smartness, and attractiveness, she is depicted as a tomboy who likes to play with traditionally male objects, and as a person who lacks sentimentality, acts with a simple-minded behaviour, and conveys a “plain” appearance.

Henry Tilney, the character whom Catherine unsolicited and unexpectedly falls in love with, instead of being loving, snubs and tries to educate her.

Mrs. Allen is portrayed as an anti-chaperone. She prioritizes her own interests, being more focused on patterns of muslin and clothes than on guiding, instructing, and advising Catherine.

In Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen takes an anti-romantic approach to her characters. Catherine is depicted as an anti-heroine, Henry Tilney plays a paternalistic role, and Mrs. Allen acts as an unconventional chaperone.

Psalm 104

The prayer conveys an image of God as the creator of heavens and earth. It echoes the narrations of the book of Genesis in which God brings the whole universe to existence in seven days and creates the man and the woman with love in order to live peacefully in the garden. 

In the gospel according to John, the Word is the person who pre-exists everything and for whom  everything is created. These days, this Word has lowered and has pitched his tent among us. 

The author of this brilliant psalm shows an overly detailed depiction of mother nature contemplating its cedars of Lebanon, birds' nests and storks. This prayer suggests that we stop in order to think what a wonderful  world that surrounds us. Don't you think it is a good idea going for a walk in nature with the family one day adopting a contemplative attitude? This is something that the psalm itself invites to do. 

'The elements of style' by William Jr. Strunk

This book has taught me a lot of things that will help me in my writing. It is not true that the book does not teach anything to a person contriving to write well. For instance, you have to write a possessive pronoun as a subject of a noun-verb (gerund) when writing in formal style (“they have permitted his walking at the countryside”). Another rule that the book has taught me is avoiding indefinite subjects like “it is”, “there are” or “this is”. Instead of this, you should rewrite the phrase (“There are plenty of medlars in the princess’ garden” = “Plenty of medlars decor the princess garden”). The book contributes with many topics to a person longing to write well.
The book offers an idea about the style which is reformulating the main idea in different manners to emphasize it within a paragraph. Writing the main idea of a text in only one manner does not emphasize it. You should write the main idea in different manners because this idea remains highlighted; because the reader focuses on it, and because the text is more ordered (spoiler alert: “According to the message you are trying to communicate in your writing, you may”, the writer maintains, “relate the body of the paragraph to the topic sentence in one or more of several different ways”). Namely, you have to write the topic you are referring to in several ways so that you highlight this topic.
This book will appeal to those who want to be writers and to those who already are good redactors. This leads us to a conclusion. Reading this book should be attached to practise. Doing it without writing in the manner it teaches is useless.

'The story of English in 100 words' by David Crystal

 The author has written many books about the English language. Some of them are about grammar. Grammar, in language, is what builds the meaning of what we say and write. But this book is about semantics. It is about words which are the pieces of the language.

One strong point of the book is its method. He digs into the story of selected words. Then, he tells us which is their story. He explains their pedigree. Who the dad and the mom of each word are. Another strong point is that the stages of the History of English are very well drawn. Each stage has representative words analysed by Crystal. However, something you may miss in this book is a complete index of cites. Crystal is a very cult writer. He makes a lot of references. One would like, once finished reading, come back and look for these references.
Reading this book has been very pleasant for me. It will appeal to people who like the history (story) of English, and philological curiosities.

'Saint Thomas Aquinas' by G. K. Chesterton

 In this book, Chesterton offers clues to understand the thought of the great philosopher of the Middle Ages. Although he is not a specialist in Aquinas, he asserts that has drunk from the published books of others (J. Maritain).

Chesterton writes as an apologist. He struggles against, not only the enemies of the time of Aquinas, such as Bravante, but against the later enemies of the philosopher, such as Martin Luther, who burnt the great work of Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, and against the usual target group of Chesterton - modernists, agnostics and atheists-, such as Bernard Shaw.
The author does not swot on the theology of Aquinas, but only in his philosophy, his thought about the being, although he does it brilliantly.
This book is reader-friendly, I have read it in two days, and thought-provoking. For those who want to know what was said by the Mute Ox.