The Gothic phenomena, although short-lived, left an unquestionably heavy influence on the literary practices of the late 1700s, particularly that of the "feminist" literary space. Jane Austen's questionable heroine, Catherine Morland, is at the same time a construction and deconstruction of the female figures that populated the novels of her predecessors. By presenting the heroine of Northanger Abbey as a parodic victim of patriarchy, Austen was attempting to rewrite the extravagant and hyperbolic claims pioneered by her more popular and sentimental precursors, such as Charlotte Smith. Hers, among many, were the texts that characterized women in literature as politically "sensible" and sentimentally gothic. Austen uses all the literary excesses that characterize the Gothic tradition to satirize the "sensibility" that marked her contemporary feminist counterparts. The role of satire destabilizes femininity; the exaggerated "romantic expectations" and disappointments provide a parodic victimized female figure. First, Austen skillfully constructs a parodic profile of Catherine: she is naïve, part of a quiet family life, and uninterested in "feminine" social conventions. She then declares her relationship as "Everywoman" with literature, through the voice of a conscious female narrative. And finally, Austen 'romances' the exaggerated realism that remains consistent throughout the text, introducing Catherine to “feminine ecriture”. Northanger Abbey reads as a critique of both the Gothic and sentimental sensibilities that were imposed on women at the time. Austen simultaneously constructs and deconstructs femininity as "feminism" by profiling the Gothic heroine, Catherine Morland; satirizing the hyperbolic and excessive nature of "true sensibility" and female Gothic conventions, Austen presents a strong female identity within patriarchy. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In 1803, the year Austen sold the Northanger Abbey manuscript, the Gothic heroine was a highly codified ideological figure, complete with standard physical traits, predictable parenting, and reliable class markers. Clearly, this heroine was ripe as a subject for parody, and such, presumably, was Austen's motive when creating her Gothic heroine-in-the-making, Catherine Morland. Austen deflates the hyperbole that personifies the Gothic heroine by beginning the novel with the following: "No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her childhood, would have supposed that she was born to be a heroine." (Austen 5) Austen directly undermines Catherine in a way that portrays her as “real.” Heroism is perhaps not an intrinsic characteristic of women, but rather a label that a young girl must grow up with. Diane Hoeveler, author of Gothic Feminism: The Professionalization Of Gender From Charlotte Smith To The Brontes, analyzes the role of hyperbole in feminist literature in Austen's time. She brings out the hyperbolic nature of the "Gothic heroine": "By presenting a naïve heroine Austen suggests that the female Gothic project is hopelessly out of touch with social, cultural, and educational realities for most women." (Hoeveler 143) Catherine intentionally does not fit the mold because she represents a social “reality” that was a rarity in late 18th century feminist literature. Her "thin, awkward figure, colorless sallow skin, straight, dark hair, and strong features" designate her as simple and ordinary, yet recognizable. (Austen 13). Hoeveler classifies her as an "everywoman", a term that includes behaviorscommunes of literate women, such as Catherine; “Catherine is Austen's Everywoman heroine – simple, ordinary, insufficiently educated, nothing special – but she still manages to become a heroine by following her instincts, waiting passively and learning to keep her mouth shut.” Hoeveler 131) The ordinary woman is essentially a product of realism and the distorted expectations of "true sensibility" that fiction conventionalizes. Catherine, labeled the everywoman, clears up the distortions when she spends her first night in Bath. Upon her arrival at the ball, the first great tragedy occurs in her mind, an explosion of her imaginative construct of Gothic romance: "No one, however, gasped in ecstatic wonder at seeing her, no whisper of anxious inquiry ran about the room, nor she was once called a deity by no one” (Austen 18). create a frustrating disappointment for any woman. Catherine is victimized similarly to her gothic sisters, such as Radcliffe's Emily and Lewis's Antonia. Her vulnerability resembles her fellow heroines, however, the social situations are ordinary and not decidedly Gothic , commenting on Catherine's imagined victimization, states that “a victim is always rewarded because this is the case in the melodramatic scheme of things. Her suffering is reified as value and represents profit to be exchanged with a husband.” (Hoeveler 130) Ultimately, the comment Austen makes is about the mutability of the 'female' figure; her juxtaposition of stark realism with the amplified tropes of Gothic feminism places Catherine, as a victim, in a position of identity crisis. she suffers from greater social adversity during her time in Bath, she feels that her situation resembles that of Emily, Radcliffe's heroine in Rudolph Mysteries, and so begins Catherine's disappointments about fitting into a Gothic atmosphere. .When Catherine again faces ignorance in the ballroom, she reflects that her fate is similar to that of a tortured and deceived Gothic heroine: "To be dishonored in the eyes of the world, to wear an infamous appearance while her heart is all purity, her actions All innocence, and the misconduct of another the true source of her humiliation, is one of those circumstances which peculiarly belong to the life of the heroine, and her fortitude beneath it is what particularly ennobles it. character.”(Austen 43) Catherine's heart is 'pure' and her actions 'innocent'; she is the epitome of Gothic vulnerability, even if her situation requires no such weakness. Sensitivity, or coded submission, is a quality that she and many other women in the novel strive to maintain. Fittingly, Henry Tilney is introduced into the novel at this particular moment and tests his "feminism" through hyperbolic politeness and courtship standards. Henry immediately begins insisting on the contents of her diary, however she is agitated because he doesn't keep a diary. A diary could perhaps suggest a level of self-awareness that Catherine at this stage of her life simply does not possess. But it is significant that for the first time in the novel the act of writing appears as a metaphor for defining and inscribing one's femininity. Henry, ironically, offers the greatest insight into what is or is not feminine: “…it is this delightful habit of journalism which goes a long way towards forming the plain writing style for which women are so generally celebrated. Everyone admits that the talent of writing pleasant letters is particularly feminine. Therenature may have done something, but I am sure it must be essentially assisted by the practice of keeping a diary." (Austen 16) Northanger Abbey can be interpreted as Austen's diary, in which she records the politics of female "sensibility" Most of her use of satire lies in this, in the self-conscious "sister author", the narrator Joanne Cordon herself examines the theoretical aspects found in Austen's text through her close reading of 'women's writing In her article, Speaking Up for Catherine Morland: Cixous and the Feminist Heroine, states the following regarding language and the role of Catherine.of a point of artistic record, the magazine: "The idea of ​​a woman's right to her own language adds meaning to the statement more modest than Catherine because the narrative examines two literary traditions associated with women – the magazine and the novel written by women – within the narrative.”(Cordon 50)Ecriture feminine, translates as “female writing,” but the concept is extends to the inscription of the female body and female difference in language and text. It is a strand of feminist literary theory that originated in France in the early 1970s and included foundational theorists such as Helene Cixous. Cordon writes that "what makes writing feminine is not the gender of the writer, but the purpose of the writing, as feminine ecritura invents new systems and dismantles old structures." the "mighty pen". Feminine ecriture is a useful tool for juxtaposing Catherine as the "sentimental" and the "gothic"; Catherine's feeling exists in her humble approach to novels and reading, and her taste for the Gothic and the disappointments they inflict upon her create a "self-conscious" Gothic heroine. Despite her taste for novels, Catherine does not appreciate 'male' reading: languages ​​and history. Although her parents had taught her writing and French, "her proficiency in neither was notable, and she avoided lessons in both whenever she could" (Austen14). Cordon decodes this as: “Catherine's aversion to the prescribed literature of her childhood gives her a kind of immunity to the “masculine” ideals inscribed by her culture.” (Cordon 44) This follows a reluctance that Gothic women usually possess towards male authoritarian forces. The parodic tone of Austen's narrator is not just used for the sole purpose of humor, but rather goes beyond and parodies an entire gender political system. The parody also extends to that of the gothic heroine,. but obviously by now Austen has made her construction of the woman in the Gothic space is significant to consider Catherine's conscious relationship with the Gothic and her self-characterization Hoeveler offers a comment on the role of parody in the text: “The parody or the lack of parody in Austen's work stems from ambiguity or confusion about this notion of gendered place: either the entire outer web we know as society for women is a Gothic monstrosity or there is no Gothic realm at all, only a The faulty education and overactive imaginations of gothic writers feed false fantasies to young women. ” (Hoeveler 129) The entire Gothic genre was an exercise in positioning women physically and socially in the literary world. discipline. Hoeveler puts forward the point of “ambiguity,” which pervades not only Austen's novel, but feminist literature in general. Austen is parodying this ambiguity, as there is no concrete resolution to the conclusion of Catherine's journey; it is instead a social experiment of a gothic heroine attempting to function in a reality that cannot satisfy her imaginative freedom "The Mysteries of Udolpho gives Catherine a model she can apply to her own.