Other Austen heroines balance such feelings with well-developed, even if sometimes mistaken, ideas for making sense of the world and guiding their behavior; much of the drama therefore lies in the conflict between these ideas and the realities confronted by the heroines. With Catherine, however, we see someone who is just beginning to learn about

The Gothic episode does involve a rather abrupt transition to a new plotline and a new tone, as well as a transition in the heroine from someone who takes everything at face value to one who now perceives hidden meanings everywhere.

was walked: had walked. This use of a form of “to be,” where “to have” would be employed at present, is found on other occasions in Jane Austen, especially when referring to a change in condition or location. It is a legacy of older forms of English, in which the past tense was often formed with “to be.”

there seems almost a general wish of decrying the capacity and undervaluing the labour of the novelist, and of slighting the performances which have only genius, wit, and taste to recommend them.

James and Isabella led the way; and so well satisfied was the latter with her lot, so contentedly was she endeavouring to ensure a pleasant walk to him who brought the double recommendation of being her brother’s friend, and her friend’s brother, so pure and uncoquettish were her feelings, that, though they overtook and passed the two offending

Alas! if the heroine of one novel be not patronized by the heroine of another, from whom can she expect protection and regard?16 I cannot approve of it.

Mr. Tilney did not appear. Every creature in Bath, except himself, was to be seen in the room at different periods of the fashionable hours; crowds of people were every moment passing in and out, up the steps and down; people whom nobody cared about, and nobody wanted to see; and he only was absent.

Cecilia (1782) and Camilla (1796) are by Frances (or Fanny) Burney; Belinda (1801) is by Maria Edgeworth. Burney, the most acclaimed novelist of the late eighteenth century, was, along with Samuel Richardson, the most important influence on Jane Austen’s work. Burney’s novels consistently focus on the tribulations—romantic and otherwise—of a young

a fine Sunday in Bath empties every house of its inhabitants, and all the world appears on such an occasion to walk about and tell their acquaintance what a charming day it is.