“…but are they all horrid, are you sure they are all horrid?” ~Catherine
When I read Northanger Abbey I was already aware that The Mysteries of Udolpho was a real book, so I figured the other 8 mentioned were as well. Apparently for many years people thought the titles in Northanger were made up by Jane Austen. It was fun looking up the summaries of these books (but I haven’t read through all the summaries yet) as well as other books mentioned in Jane Austen novels, so I thought I’d make a post about the “horrid” ones.
First of all, I thought it was funny, saying novels were “horrid”, and supposed that it must have a slightly different meaning than how it is usually used today. I looked it up on dictionary.com and the first meaning was the one I was looking for:
“Such as to cause horror; shockingly dreadful; abominable”
I suppose “abominable” doesn’t quite fit, but I can just hear Catherine saying “It was shockingly dreadful, do not you think so, Miss Tilney?”
(If you click on the titles in bold it will go to a summary of the novel.)
Now the main one is, of course, The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe (who, by the way, also wrote The Romance of the Forest which Harriet, Mr. Martin, and Emma discuss in Emma). Udolpho is referred to frequently while Catherine is in Bath; she is enthralled and can barely keep a conversation with Isabella going without thinking of what will be behind the black veil. “Mrs. Radcliffe” is discussed as well.
The second mentioned was The Italian by Ann Radcliffe, which Isabella says she will read with Catherine after the latter has finished Udolpho. Then Isabella reads Catherine the list in her pocket-book of “ten or twelve” more of the same sort (seven, in point of fact). For my reader’s information, they were all published in the 1790s. Here they are:
Castle of Wolfenbach by Eliza Parsons
Clermont by Regina Maria Roche
Mysterious Warnings by Eliza Parsons
The last one has the best title, don’t you think? ;-)
Do you ever have fun researching that sort of thing? Have you read any of the novels mentioned in Jane Austen's books?
Do you ever have fun researching that sort of thing? Have you read any of the novels mentioned in Jane Austen's books?
