Northanger Abbey

Catherine meets Isabella in the Pump-room, where Isabella inquires after Catherine’s progress reading Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho. Catherine enjoys the novel very much and is eager to discuss it. Isabella promises not to spoil the novel for her, and she suggests that they read Radcliffe’s The Italian next. She has a list of scary gothic novels given to her by her friend, Miss Andrews. Isabella mentions that Miss Andrews is a beautiful girl, but Isabella feels that men do not ever appreciate how beautiful she is, so she scolds them for not acknowledging Miss Andrews’s beauty. Catherine is shocked that Isabella would ever scold a man for not being attracted to her friend; Isabella makes her blush by saying she would never have to scold a man about Catherine, because Catherine is very attractive and animated. Isabella is still confident that Henry likes Catherine; she encourages Catherine’s feelings yet again.

She then asks Catherine what she plans to wear to the ball that evening, because she wants to dress herself identically in order to get men to notice them. Catherine does not care if men pay her any attention; Isabella agrees that even if men notice them, they should not change their behavior because of it. Isabella asks Catherine what she looks for in a man. She then remarks that Catherine’s description matches Henry perfectly. Isabella describes her ideal man: light eyes, and a sallow complexion. She makes Catherine promise not to mention her preferences if they ever meet a man whose appearance matches what she said. Catherine promises, but she does not fully understand why it matters so much. Isabella hastily changes the subject. They notice two young men watching them from across the Pump-room. They move to a different spot, and the two men leave for the churchyard. Isabella thinks one of the men is good-looking and so Catherine suggests that if they leave now then they might catch up to them. Isabella says they should not chase after them, and instead go to the shops to look at a hat she likes—which is in the same direction the men are walking.

Their progress on catching up to the men is thwarted by traffic in the street. One of the carriages is being driven quite recklessly, and Isabella is surprised to see that it is her brother John’s carriage. John is accompanied by Catherine’s brother James. Isabella tries to get James’s attention by smiling at him, and Catherine is oblivious to the fact that James clearly finds Isabella attractive. John Thorpe chats with Catherine, but he wants to discuss the horses and the carriage, and since she knows very little about either thing, she cannot keep up with the conversation. James and John offer to escort Catherine and Isabella home to the Thorpes’ house, and the whole way there Isabella is focused solely on James.

John walks with Catherine. As they walk, John only talks about whether the women they walk by are ugly or pretty. Catherine does not respond to any of his judgments, because she is unsure what to say. She asks John if he ever read The Mysteries of Udolpho, but he says he has not because he thinks novels are low-brow, but he concedes that he will occasionally read a novel by Ann Radcliffe. Catherine hesitantly explains that Udolpho was written by Radcliffe, but John is unembarrassed and continues criticizing the same books Catherine enjoys.

When their group reaches the Thorpes’ house, John displays worse manners. He is rude to his sisters, calling them ugly before he even says hello, and he demands his mother find bachelor lodgings for himself and James. Even though Catherine finds his manners unappealing, she decides to not make any judgments about him yet because he is Isabella’s brother and her own brother’s friend. John asks Catherine to dance with him at a ball that night; she agrees. James asks her if she likes John; Catherine tells him she does.

At the ball that evening, Isabella says she will not dance with James until Catherine dances with John—but John has not even come into the same room as them yet. As the minutes go by, Isabella gives up waiting for John, and she goes off with James for a dance, leaving Catherine alone with Mrs. Allen and Mrs. Thorpe. Catherine worries everyone saw her be left alone and that they might believe she is incapable of making a suitable match. The narrator notes that it is common in novels for the heroine to experience some form of humiliation during her journey.

Ten minutes later, Catherine sees Henry across the room, but he does not see her because he is talking with another young woman. Henry soon sees Catherine, and he approaches her along with his sister, Miss Tilney. Henry asks Catherine for a dance, but she is genuinely sad to turn him down since she has already promised to dance with John. When John finally comes in, he notably does not apologize for making Catherine wait so long. During their dance, Catherine tries to keep Henry in her line of sight, and she regrets declining his dance.

Miss Tilney socializes with Catherine, and she finds she likes Miss Tilney because she seems elegant and easy-going. Isabella rejoins them, claiming that James kept asking her to dance again and again and that she insisted that too many dances in a row would be improper—but she soon dances with James again despite her earlier protests. John soon walks away again as well, so Catherine finds Mrs. Allen and the Tilney’s chaperone, Mrs. Hughes, hoping that Henry will be with them, but he is leading another lady to the dance floor. John asks Catherine for another dance, but she declines; she also declines his offer to walk the room and make fun of other people. For the rest of the evening, she does not see Henry or his sister, and even Isabella seems to have abandoned her.