by Jane Austen
31. “Stuff” is a type of worsted wool. Worsted wools and velvets, especially the latter, were popular materials for indoor decoration in earlier centuries, used for hangings or for furniture. The hypothetical material here would be for both the curtains around the bed and the bedcovering; the two usually matched. Dark, rich colors were also favored in earlier periods, in contrast to the lighter hues that came into fashion during the eighteenth century. The existence of rooms, decorations, and furniture from previous generations in grand houses such as Northanger Abbey would make their denizens highly cognizant of these changes in style.
32. toilettes: dressing tables for ladies. For a picture, see this illustration.
33. A lute is a stringed instrument similar to a guitar that was popular in earlier centuries. The music of a lute serves a critical function in Udolpho.
34. The heroine of Udolpho has an enormous chest in her room that she can neither move nor open, while a chest in The Romance of the Forest contains a vital secret.
A wardrobe from this period.
[From Harold Eberlein, The Practical Book of Period Furniture (Philadelphia, 1914), Key Plate XIV]
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35. domestic: servant.
36. cordial: comfort. The term, when used as a noun, normally meant a food, drink, or medicine to restore or invigorate one’s spirits; here this meaning is invoked metaphorically, as well as ironically.
37. Emily’s room in the castle of Udolpho is attached to a staircase, the door to which she cannot lock—though it can be locked from the other side.
38. Henry, showing his usual attentiveness to language, echoes that found in Gothic tales, especially their continual use of highly charged stock phrases such as “unconquerable horror,” “unquiet slumber,” “peals of thunder,” and “shake the edifice to its foundation.”
39. The heroine of The Romance of the Forest discovers a secret door behind a tapestry, and proceeds to explore the rooms it leads to.
A chapel in the moonlight. Pictures like this, displaying the type of scenes found in mystery and horror stories, also appeared in many illustrated books of the time, such as this guide for amateur artists.
[From James Merigot, The Amateur’s Portfolio, or the New Drawing Magazine, Vol. II (London, 1815–1816), No. 12, Plate 4]
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40. either: any of them. At this time both “either” and “neither” could sometimes refer to more than two objects.
41. The heroine of Udolpho finds a room containing instruments of torture, while the heroine of The Romance of the Forest discovers an old dagger.
42. narrowly: closely, carefully.
43. When the heroine of The Romance of the Forest explores the rooms behind the tapestry she eventually finds an old collection of papers. The papers turn out to contain a confession, written by an imprisoned man facing death, that explains the secret of the heroine’s birth—the revelation of which confounds the novel’s villain.
44. Matilda is the name of a character in one novel, The Recess (1783–85), who before dying leaves behind a voluminous manuscript telling her tale. The use of “thou” and “mayst” would suggest something written long ago; The Recess is set in Elizabethan times. The confession discovered in The Romance in the Forest commences with “O! Ye, whomever ye are, whom chance, or misfortune, may hereafter conduct to this spot—to ye I speak—to ye reveal the story of my wrongs, and ask ye to avenge them.”
Partly ruined Gothic arches.
[From Samuel Prout, Progressive Fragments, Drawn and Etched in a Broad and Simple Manner (London, 1818)]
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45. Medieval buildings were often made of gray stone and had massy, or massive, walls, for such walls were necessary to support the heavy weight of the stone upper parts.
46. Oaks, the most common trees in England, are noted for their longevity.
47. Typical Gothic windows were tall and narrow. The thick walls that contained them prevented the windows from being wide, so height was the only way to allow much light to enter.
48. The lodge was a house or cottage placed at the entrance to a large estate; it would be staffed by a porter who helped care for and guard the grounds. The gates adjacent to the lodge controlled access to the estate.
49. The use of gravel for roads—especially smooth, fine gravel—was a recent practice, which means it further marks the modernity of the property.
50. Thus Catherine is deprived of the long and significant observation of a foreboding manor that many heroines, including that of Udolpho, experience.
51. Straw was a natural choice for bonnets, which were casual headgear often designed to have a rustic look. A straw bonnet is also an appropriately prosaic object to distract Catherine from her Gothic fancies.
A woman in a straw bonnet.
[From Elisabeth McClellan, Historic Dress in America, 1800–1870 (Philadelphia, 1910), p. 29]
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52. “Porch” at this time referred to a structure forming a covered entrance to a building. The hall was a large entranceway, a standard feature of grand country houses.
53. “Habit,” sometimes used then to mean attire in general, means here a riding habit, a relatively sturdy female outfit for going on horseback, which could also be used for riding in carriages.
54. The common drawing room was the one for ordinary use by a family; that is why the General will say the room “pretend[s] only to comfort.” Those who could afford it had both a common drawing room and a fancier one reserved for special occasions and important guests.
55. In the period leading up to this novel homes became filled with more furniture than in earlier times, a process assisted by the increasing number of small pieces in use. Recent furniture, which was lighter and more delicate than that of earlier styles, was also regarded as more elegant.
56. Count Rumford was an American who moved to Britain after the American Revolution, and was later made a count by the government of Bavaria. A noted scientist and inventor, his most lauded contribution, which came to bear his name, was an improved fireplace that provided significantly more heat while also reducing smoke. His fireplaces were narrow, unlike those of earlier times, which tended to be wide and were frequently adorned with large, elaborate carvings. Rumford fireplaces had been introduced only a few years before this novel was completed, so General Tilney’s possession of one marks his commitment to acquiring up-to-date conveniences, a commitment seen elsewhere in his house and grounds. For a contemporary picture of a man enjoying the warmth of a Rumford, see this illustration.
57. Marble had become more widely used in wealthy homes in England during the eighteenth century, in contrast to its extreme rarity earlier. Its spread was stimulated by the strong influence of architectural styles derived from Renaissance Italy, where marble was common, and by the increasing prosperity of England, which allowed those at the top to afford such an expensive, imported material. Its most important usage was in chimneypieces (elsewhere in the house other materials imitating the look of marble would be employed, even in the richest homes).
58. Only in the eighteenth century did Europeans figure out how to manufacture china, or porcelain; hence English china could not have existed in earlier times, while porcelain from China itself was almost prohibitively expensive. By the time of this novel, however, innovations in ceramic production had led to china becoming a frequent fixture of English homes, both for servingware and for purely decorative pieces.
59. peculiar: particular.
60. The pointed arch is the most distinctive feature of Gothic architecture, seen most memorably in the soaring interiors of Gothic cathedrals but also found in other places such as windows (see this illustration).
61. Casements are windows that open in and out; they had been the standard type of windows until the eighteenth century, when sash windows, which go up and down, gradually superseded them.
62. The weakness of glass in earlier time
s meant that windows consisted of multiple small panes embedded in a metal lattice. Improvements in glass over time made the substance clearer, while also allowing for larger panes that let in more light. For an example of an earlier window, see the following page.
63. “The smallest divisions” refers to the style of older windows; see previous note. Stained-glass windows are one of the glories of Gothic cathedrals, and even domestic glass from that period could be painted.
A relatively plain marble chimneypiece from this period.
[From J. Alfred Gotch, The English Home from Charles I to George IV (New York, 1918), p. 392]
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64. Fancy gilding was another relatively recent feature of homes, one the General thinks will impress her.
65. The architectural use of grand wooden staircases, often near the entrance to a house, and long galleries (meaning a very large room that would function partly as a hallway) went back some in time, the first to the seventeenth century and the second to the sixteenth, but not back to the Middle Ages.
66. The quadrangle, or rectangular courtyard, is part of the original medieval structure—though, significantly, it is the one feature Catherine has encountered since entering the house that she is unable to see.
67. Changing into more formal attire for dinner was standard practice among the wealthy. It could be an especially elaborate ritual for women, which is why Eleanor, knowing her father’s punctuality and impatience, urges restraint on Catherine.
Heavily latticed windows from the sixteenth century.
[From Chandler R. Clifford, Period Furnishings (New York, 1922), p. 105]
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VOLUME II, CHAPTER VI
1. Tapestry and velvet were both mentioned by Henry in his imaginary Gothic scenario, and both were frequently part of the decor of earlier centuries.
2. These features both mark the room’s relative modernity. Wallpaper first appeared in the seventeenth century and became common only in the eighteenth. Carpets had long been in existence, but traditionally they had been very costly and, when possessed at all, were used as decoration beneath furniture, where they would not be trod upon. It was only in the later eighteenth century that wall-to-wall carpeting appeared, which feature may be implied by the wording here. In sum, only toward the end of the century would either substantial carpeting or wallpaper be found in an ordinary guest bedroom, which would not be furnished as grandly as the principal rooms of the house.
3. Most houses, even among the wealthy, would have some furniture pieces from earlier periods, due to the expense of buying new furniture. Older pieces would likely be placed in less important rooms, such as this one.
4. This is a package containing clothes, whether linen or not (“linen” could apply to garments in general).
5. The package could have been on the seat beside her, or under it. Its being “for her immediate accommodation” probably means it contains clothes for her use upon arrival.
6. Henry’s scenarios had involved a chest, and chests were often associated with older times; in the Middle Ages they had been especially common. Fireplaces and chimneypieces sometimes jutted into the room, thereby creating recesses on either side of them.
7. curiously: skillfully, elaborately.
8. Cedar has long been a favored material for chests because it tends to repel moths, which would be especially important in earlier times because so much of the clothing was made of wool. Inlaid wood in furniture emerged in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in England, and by the latter century had become very popular; this chest, shortly referred to as old, may date from then. Chests, partly because of their importance in earlier centuries, were often raised above the ground by elaborately decorated stands.
9. Silver became a popular element of furniture in the seventeenth century, though its cost confined it to high-end pieces and primarily to features such as locks and handles. A “cypher,” or cipher, means, in this context, an interwoven set of letters; they frequently formed the initials of a name, and could be stamped on various items.
10. The maid is a lady’s maid, whose principal task was helping her mistress dress, and who thus could be of use to Catherine in doing the same; see this illustration.
11. calculated: suited, apt.
12. toilette: process of getting dressed.
13. counterpane: bedcovering (generally embroidered with some kind of ornamental pattern).
A chest from the early seventeenth century.
[From Chandler R. Clifford, Period Furnishings (New York, 1922), p. 99]
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14. glass: mirror.
15. As the mistress of the house, Miss Tilney would be in charge of deciding on the arrangement of furniture.
16. Many muslin gowns had strings that tied at the waist, often in front (which is why Catherine can do it by herself). The lightness of muslin made it practical that a gown’s weight could be held closed by strings.
A woman getting dressed with the help of her lady’s maid.
[From Works of James Gillray (London, 1849), Figure 572]
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17. People would normally gather in the drawing room before dinner and then proceed into the dining room.
18. Pulling the bell is a signal for the servants to begin serving the meal. At this time most genteel homes had elaborate systems of bellpulls, which were ropes or strips of material, often fancily decorated, that connected by wires to bells in the servants’ quarters. There would be a separate bell for each room of the main house, thus allowing the servants to know where they were wanted. In this case, knowing that it is dinnertime, and knowing also their master’s evident impatience to eat punctually, the servants probably need only the sound of the drawing room’s bell to begin serving.
19. directly: immediately.
A grand drawing room.
[From John Swarbrick, Robert Adam and his Brothers (New York, 1915), p. 99]
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20. complacent: obliging, disposed to please.
21. noble: magnificent or large. Either meaning is possible, and both are probably meant here.
22. Often a very large room was made into a drawing room, due to the number of people and activities a drawing room might be expected to host. That General Tilney has used this room instead for a dining room indicates the priority he places on meals.
23. fitted up: furnished.
24. Numerous servants would be present during meals, in families that could afford them, both to serve the dishes and to be in a position to attend to the diners if they needed assistance.
25. The General continues to exhibit his obsession with money and possessions, but Catherine fails to take note of it. Were she to do so, she might wonder why he is so solicitous of her.
26. simple: foolish, unwise.
27. He alludes to an ideal of moderation, including in wealth, as the key to “rational happiness,” an ideal evoked by many writers at the time. His purported praise of such an ideal is completely disingenuous, since he obviously regards more and costlier as always better.
28. “Afternoon” then usually referred only to the very end of the day: it was when Catherine arrived at the Abbey, at which point the sun was setting, that the wind and rain became noticeable (see this page). Later in this paragraph the conversation in the carriage between Henry and Catherine, which took place well after noon, is described as happening in the morning.
29. The weather could make Catherine think of Gothic stories—in both The Mysteries of Udolpho and The Romance of the Forest storms occur at critical moments and add to the distress of the heroine—as well as of Henry’s imagined scenario. Of course, there is no logical reason to associate bad weather more with an abbey than with any other building.
30. Gallants are fine gentlemen, usually devoted to pleasure and the pursuit of women. Some such figures, after drinking, menace the heroine of Udolpho. She also suffers from violent pl
ots against her during the night.
31. The number of servants of Northanger Abbey would effectively guard it; the house would not have actual full-time guards.
32. A servant would have lit her fire.
33. A fender is a low metal frame at the front of a fireplace meant to keep coals or fragments of the fire from rolling onto the floor.
34. faggot: bundle of sticks or twigs used for a fire.
35. Over the course of the eighteenth century, curtains had become common in better English homes. The use of curtains for a variety of purposes, such as enclosing a bed, is why these are identified specifically as “window curtains.”
36. Wooden shutters to protect against the wind and to keep a room warm at night were a standard feature of windows. The divisions are where the shutters fold, to allow them to be opened and closed.
37. Many windows were set within a deep recess, with a horizontal wooden surface occupying the recess below the window and possibly serving as a seat.
38. To make up a fire is to add fuel to keep it burning at the same height.
39. “Cabinet” then referred to a large, usually vertical piece of furniture with drawers and compartments. Cabinets had first emerged in the sixteenth century, and were highly popular in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, valued for both their ample storage and their impressive appearance. In sketching his imaginary scenario on their journey to Northanger, Henry spoke of Catherine’s finding “a large, old-fashioned cabinet” very like what she sees now.
40. The detailed description of Catherine’s physical actions and the items around her, which appears throughout these first few chapters set at Northanger Abbey, is unusual for Austen’s novels. Here it serves the purpose of dramatizing the experiences of the heroine as she explores the abbey and compares it to the expectations she has formed on the basis of her reading. It also gives this section of the novel a strong affinity with the Radcliffe novels it is parodying, for those novels are full of physical description.
