From her earliest Youth she had discovered a Fondness for Reading, which extremely delighted the Marquis; he permitted her therefore the Use of his Library, in which, unfortunately for her, were great Store of Romances, and, what was still more unfortunate, no in the original French, but very bad Translations.The deceased Marchioness had purchased these Books to soften a Solitude which she found very disagreeable; and, after her Death, the Marquis removed them from her Closet into his Library, where Arabella found them.
- The Female Quixote, ch. 1 (Book 1)
By [the Romances] she was taught to believe, that Love was the ruling Principle of the World; that every other Passion was subordinate to this; and that it caused all the Happiness and Miseries of Life.
- The Female Quixote, ch. 1 (Book 1)
In one of our study questions for class, Professor Sorensen asked what we made of the fact that Arabella inherits her voluminous romance books from her mother. I find it extremely interesting, because the Romance books simultaneously assume the role of a mother as well as an inheritance from her — they are the Marchioness’ avatar as well as legacy. But I think the books act as a mother moreso than an heirloom. They instruct Arabella in the ways of society: how to behave towards men, what the social laws and customs are, what to value (in people, in principle…), etc. And throughout the novel, Arabella often refers back to the books for guidance and advise, much as a daughter would a mother.
While Catherine went through no such indoctrination, there are passages that suggest that her education was not so much different. Although Catherine is fortunate to have her mother about, she does not have the privilege of much direct instruction from her:
Mrs Morland was a very good woman, and wished to see her children every thing they ought to be; but her time was so much occupied in lying-in and teaching the little ones, that her elder daughters were inevitably left to shift for themselves.
- Northanger Abbey, ch. 1
Certainly, Mrs. Morland teaches Catherine a few things, like the “Beggar’s Petition,” “The Hare and many Friends” and the French language. But from the first chapter, the narrator shows us that the majority of Catherine’s education apparently comes from literature:
From Pope, she learnt to censure those who
‘Bear about the mockery of woe.’From Gray, that
‘Many a flower is born to blush unseen
And waste its fragrance on the desert air.’From Thompson, that
—– ‘It is a delightful task
To teach the young idea how to shoot.’And from Shakespeare she gained a great store of information — amongst the rest, that
—– ‘Trifles light as air,
Are, to the jealous, confirmation strong,
As proofs of Holy Writ.’That
‘The poor beetle, which we treat upon
In corporeal suffrance feels a pang as great
As when a giant dies.’And that a young woman in love always looks
—– ‘like Patience on a monument
Smiling at Grief.’- Northanger Abbey, ch. 1
While this literary repertoire of education seems quite impressive, it’s actually more comical than laudable, I think, because everything she learned (or remembered, in any case) is utterly abstract and hardly practical. What does Patience look like as an emotional embodiment? How does it feel for a giant to die? How exactly does a young idea shoot? How does one recognize the mockery of woe? And what in the world is Shakespeare trying to say about trifles and Holy Writ?
This sequence reminds me of Paradise Lost and Milton’s generous use of epic simile in the poem. In one instance, the narrator compares Satan’s spear to “the tallest Pine / Hewn on Norwegian hills, to be the Mast / Of some great Ammiral, were but a wand” (PL. i.292-294). Sounds pretty impressive, right? Satan’s spear is so big, that the tallest pine tree in Norway (which was cut down to be used as the mast of a naval ship) is but a dinky wand in comparison. But therein lies the rub — we first have to know how big the tallest pine tree is in order to understand how big Satan’s spear is. Problem is, we don’t. It’s so big, and so distanced (both geographically and psychologically) that we cannot comprehend its size. Therefore, the simile is kinda useless. And, consequently, so is Catherine’s literary education.
Therefore, are both novels arguing for the legitimacy of unconventional education à la “unconventional” literature, and the doing away with conventional education (such as maternal instruction and canonical literature)? Arabella views the world through the lense of the old Romances, Catherine through the gothic novels that Isabella gets her reading. Like what I talked about last time, while such literature utterly deludes each respective heroine, they strangely allow the young women to perceive truth (as opposed to falling for deception). I talked with Professor Sorensen during her office hours on Wednesday, and she suggested that I look into how the gothic and the Romances have educational value, despite their utter lack of formal realism. The reason why Catherine and Arabella get into trouble, so to speak, is because of their mishandling of the books that they read. They try to replace reality with the stuff of the gothic and Romances, rather than realize that, yes, heroes and heroines may not be dashing about the Italian countrysides, and houses do not always contain mysterious chests and skeletons in the closets, but the world can still be a scary place. There are General Tilneys out there who are gold-diggers who kick you out of their houses for being less richer than supposed, Isabella and John Thorpeses who are manipulative and selfish, and Sir Georges who… oh dear, I seem to have forgotten. So because of that, gothic novels and old Romances can be very helpful models and guides for young women to emulate and learn from, if applied in the correct way. “Reading askance,” as it were.
My goal for the next hour or so (or until the caffiene from my coffee wears off and I can’t think coherently): analyze passages in both Northanger Abbey and The Female Quixote concerning social scenes and reading. Are the heroines separating fiction from reality, replacing fiction for reality, or reading literature askance of reality?
