The Pen is in Her Hands

Abstract

In Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, Catherine Morland "cannot be interested in" the "real solemn history" prescribed by the period's educational expectations for young women, instead finding romances to be far more captivating. Through Catherine’s clear preference for Gothic novels over history, Austen highlights a larger shared experience that women of the time had with traditional history texts and emphasizes the merit of novels as being much more capable of speaking to women’s experiences and interests in order to credit these novels for what they truly were to many -an early form of women’s history.

For additional context, listen to the author's reflection on the piece below.