This is the third post
(with one more to following within a few days) of mine about the veiled
allusion to Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s
Travels that I see in Northanger
Abbey. Today I will focus on JA’s wordplay in NA, by which I claim she
subliminally but unmistakably pointed to Swift’s famous novel:
PART ONE: “THE JUDGEMENT
OF A YAHOO”:
In my first post in this
thread, I argued that JA’s ironic 1799 epistolary comment to her sister about “the
Judgement of a Yahoo” in referring to the horse-obsessed Mr. Evelyn, was a wink
at the character of John Thorpe in NA. Surely Thorpe was already present in the
1798 Susan, the first version of Northanger Abbey that JA had sold for 50
pounds to the publisher Crosby a year earlier. Susan of course was never published, and, alas, no trace of its manuscript
remained in existence, after JA significantly revised it during the final
decade of her life.
It occurred to me
yesterday to check the text of Northanger
Abbey for usages of the word “judgment”, and that turned out to be a shrewd
hunch, as I found not one but three
passages in which “judgment” is indeed directly and significantly connected to the
Yahoo-like Mr. Evelyn’s fictional double, John Thorpe:
Chapter 7: Right after
John Thorpe displays his crude tastelessness by dissing Burney’s Camilla, we are treated to examples of
his boorishness toward his family, and it is in reaction thereto that we read the
narrator’s ironic reference to “her [Catherine’s] judgment” of the Yahoo-like John
Thorpe being “bought off” by Isabella’s rosy-colored reframe of her brother’s
dreadful manners (remarkably similar to what we witness in the U.S. political news
on a daily basis):
“This critique, the justness of which was
unfortunately lost on poor Catherine, brought them to the door of Mrs. Thorpe's
lodgings, and the feelings of the discerning and unprejudiced reader of Camilla gave way to the feelings of the
dutiful and affectionate son, as they met Mrs. Thorpe, who had descried them
from above, in the passage. [Thorpe] "Ah,
Mother! How do you do?" said he, giving her a hearty shake of the hand.
"Where did you get that quiz of a hat? It makes you look like an old
witch. Here is Morland and I come to stay a few days with you, so you must look
out for a couple of good beds somewhere near."
And this address seemed to
satisfy all the fondest wishes of the mother's heart, for she received him with
the most delighted and exulting affection. On his two younger sisters he then
bestowed an equal portion of his fraternal tenderness, for he asked each of
them how they did, and observed that they both looked very ugly. These manners
did not please Catherine; but he was James's friend and Isabella's brother; and
HER JUDGMENT WAS FURTHER BOUGHT OFF by Isabella's assuring her, when they
withdrew to see the new hat, that John thought her the most charming girl in
the world, and by John's engaging her before they parted to dance with him that
evening…”
Chapter 9: Here we get our
most extensive view of Thorpe’s “expertise” on horses, and that is when Thorpe
boasts about “his judgment” in foretelling the winners of horseracing matches.
This is the passage which, I claim, JA must in particular have had in mind when
she referred to “the judgement of a Yahoo” while wryly describing the real life
Mr. Evelyn’s horse obsession:
“Thorpe's ideas then all
reverted to the merits of his own equipage, and she was called on to admire the
spirit and freedom with which his horse moved along, and the ease which his
paces, as well as the excellence of the springs, gave the motion of the
carriage. She followed him in all his admiration as well as she could. To go
before or beyond him was impossible. His knowledge and her ignorance of the
subject, his rapidity of expression, and her diffidence of herself put that out
of her power; she could strike out nothing new in commendation, but she readily
echoed whatever he chose to assert, and it was finally settled between them
without any difficulty that his equipage was altogether the most complete of
its kind in England, his carriage the neatest, his horse the best goer, and
himself the best coachman.
"You do not really
think, Mr. Thorpe," said Catherine, venturing after some time to consider
the matter as entirely decided, and to offer some little variation on the
subject, "that James's gig will break down?"
"Break down! Oh!
Lord! Did you ever see such a little tittuppy thing in your life? There is not
a sound piece of iron about it. The wheels have been fairly worn out these ten
years at least—and as for the body! Upon my soul, you might shake it to pieces
yourself with a touch. It is the most devilish little rickety business I ever
beheld! Thank God! we have got a better. I would not be bound to go two miles
in it for fifty thousand pounds." "Good heavens!" cried
Catherine, quite frightened. "Then pray let us turn back; they will
certainly meet with an accident if we go on. Do let us turn back, Mr. Thorpe;
stop and speak to my brother, and tell him how very unsafe it is." "Unsafe! Oh, lord! What is there
in that? They will only get a roll if it does break down; and there is plenty
of dirt; it will be excellent falling. Oh, curse it! The carriage is safe
enough, if a man knows how to drive it; a thing of that sort in good hands will
last above twenty years after it is fairly worn out. Lord bless you! I would undertake
for five pounds to drive it to York and back again, without losing a
nail."
Catherine listened with
astonishment; she knew not how to reconcile two such very different accounts of
the same thing; for she had not been brought up to understand the propensities
of a rattle, nor to know to how many idle assertions and impudent falsehoods the
excess of vanity will lead…He told her of horses which he had bought for a
trifle and sold for incredible sums; of racing matches, in which HIS JUDGMENT HAD
INFALLIBLY FORETOLD the winner…”
Chapter 16: Finally, here Isabella
Thorpe unsuccessfully attempts to diminish Henry in Catherine’s eyes, and
pushes John forward as an alternative suitor. Next, Catherine points to General
Tilney’s civility and attention toward herself; whereupon Isabella starts to cite
“John’ s judgment” of the General, but gets no further, because Catherine, who
clearly no longer has the patience to hear John’s judgment of anything, peremptorily cuts Isabella
off!:
[Isa.] "How
contemptible! Of all things in the world inconstancy is my aversion. Let me
entreat you never to think of [Henry] again, my dear Catherine; indeed he is
unworthy of you." [Cath.] "Unworthy!
I do not suppose he ever thinks of me."
[Isa.] "That is
exactly what I say; he never thinks of you. Such fickleness! Oh! How different
to your brother and to mine! I really believe John has the most constant
heart." [Cath.] "But
as for General Tilney, I assure you it would be impossible for anybody to
behave to me with greater civility and attention; it seemed to be his only care
to entertain and make me happy."
[Isa.] "Oh! I know no
harm of him; I do not suspect him of pride. I believe he is a very
gentleman-like man. John thinks very well of him, and JOHN’S JUDGMENT—" [Cath.] "Well, I shall see how they
behave to me this evening; we shall meet them at the rooms."
PART TWO: SWIFT, MASTER
& HORSE
In my previous post, I
suggested that at the heart of the allusion to Gulliver’s Travels in Northanger
Abbey there are strong intentional
parallels between the reverential attitude of Catherine toward Henry and
Eleanor Tilney, on the one hand, and the reverential attitude of Gulliver toward
his Houyhnhnm equine master, on the
other.
On another hunch, I
searched to find the uses of the word “master”, as well as of the word “swift”
(or its variants) in NA. These hunches also turned out to be spot-on, and I’ll
show you the relevant passages in NA in a moment. But first I must point out
that there are five usages of “swift”
words in NA. This does not sound like very many, until you learn that there is
only one other usage (in Emma) of “swift” in all five other
Austen novels combined, and none at all in JA’s surviving letters! That tells us
that “swift” was not part of JA’s
working lexicon, and therefore those five usages in NA were deliberate and
special, and almost certainly her playful winks at the surname of Jonathan
Swift, the author she was emulating in NA!:
Chapter 2: As for Mr.
Allen, he repaired directly to the card-room, and left them to enjoy a mob by
themselves. With more care for the safety of her new gown than for the comfort
of her protegee, Mrs. Allen made her way through the throng of men by the door,
as SWIFTLY as the necessary caution would allow…
Chapter 9: "You will
not be frightened, Miss Morland," said Thorpe, as he handed her in, "if
MY HORSE should dance about a little at first setting off. He will, most
likely, give a plunge or two, and perhaps take the rest for a minute; but he
will soon know HIS MASTER. He is full of spirits, playful as can be, but there
is no vice in him." Catherine did
not think the portrait a very inviting one, but it was too late to retreat, and
she was too young to own herself frightened; so, resigning herself to her fate,
and trusting to the animal's boasted knowledge of its owner, she sat peaceably
down, and saw Thorpe sit down by her. Everything being then arranged, the
servant who stood at the HORSE's head was bid in an important voice "to
let him go," and off they went in the quietest manner imaginable, without
a plunge or a caper, or anything like one. Catherine, delighted at so happy an
escape, spoke her pleasure aloud with grateful surprise; and her companion
immediately made the matter perfectly simple by assuring her that it was
entirely owing to the peculiarly judicious manner in which he had then held the
reins, and the singular discernment and dexterity with which he had directed
his whip. Catherine, though she could not help wondering that with such perfect
command of his HORSE, he should think it necessary to alarm her with a relation
of its tricks, congratulated herself sincerely on being under the care of so
excellent a coachman; and perceiving that the animal continued to go on in the
same quiet manner, without showing the smallest propensity towards any
unpleasant vivacity, and (considering its inevitable pace was ten miles an
hour) by no means alarmingly fast, gave herself up to all the enjoyment of air
and exercise of the most invigorating kind, in a fine mild day of February,
with the consciousness of safety…
And she would neither
believe her own watch, nor her brother's, nor the servant's; she would believe
no assurance of it founded on reason or reality, till Morland produced his
watch, and ascertained the fact; to have doubted a moment longer then would
have been equally inconceivable, incredible, and impossible; and she could only
protest, over and over again, that no two hours and a half had ever gone off so
SWIFTLY before, as Catherine was called on to confirm…
Chapter 13: To such
anxious attention was the general's civility carried, that not aware of her
extraordinary SWIFTNESS in entering the house, he was quite angry with the
servant whose neglect had reduced her to open the door of the apartment
herself. "What did William mean by it? He should make a point of inquiring
into the matter." And if Catherine had not most warmly asserted his
innocence, it seemed likely that William would lose the favour of HIS MASTER
forever, if not his place, by her rapidity.
Chapter 16: Henry smiled
and said, "I am sure my brother would not wish to do that." "Then
you will persuade him to go away?" "Persuasion is not at command; but
pardon me, if I cannot even endeavour to persuade him. I have myself told him
that Miss Thorpe is engaged. He knows what he is about, and must be HIS OWN
MASTER."
Chapter 23: After an
evening, the little variety and seeming length of which made her peculiarly
sensible of Henry's importance among them, she was heartily glad to be
dismissed; though it was a look from the general not designed for her
observation which sent his daughter to the bell. When the butler would have lit
HIS MASTER'S candle, however, he was forbidden. The latter was not going to
retire.
Chapter 26: The room in
question was of a commodious, well-proportioned size, and handsomely fitted up
as a dining-parlour; and on their quitting it to walk round the grounds, she
was shown, first into a smaller apartment, belonging peculiarly to THE MASTER
of the house, and made unusually tidy on the occasion; and afterwards into what
was to be the drawing-room, with the appearance of which, though unfurnished…
Chapter 24: At that
instant a door underneath was hastily opened; someone seemed with SWIFT steps
to ascend the stairs, by the head of which she had yet to pass before she could
gain the gallery. She had no power to move.
Chapter 29: With these
feelings, she rather dreaded than sought for the first view of that well-known
spire which would announce her within twenty miles of home. Salisbury she had
known to be her point on leaving Northanger; but after the first stage she had
been indebted to THE POST-MASTERS for the names of the places which were then
to conduct her to it; so great had been her ignorance of her route. She met
with nothing, however, to distress or frighten her. Her youth, civil manners,
and liberal pay procured her all the attention that a TRAVELLER like herself
could require; and stopping only to CHANGE HORSES, she TRAVELLED on for about
eleven hours without accident or alarm, and between six and seven o'clock in
the evening found herself entering Fullerton…A heroine in a hack post-chaise is
such a blow upon sentiment, as no attempt at grandeur or pathos can withstand. SWIFTLY
therefore shall her post-boy drive through the village, amid the gaze of Sunday
groups, and speedy shall be her descent from it.
And so there you have
further evidence of Jane Austen’s veiled allusion to Gulliver’s Travels in Northanger
Abbey.
Cheers, ARNIE
@JaneAustenCode on Twitter
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