Mr. Tilney's witty defense of the novel sharply contrasts with John Thorpe's remarks on the same topic. In Chapter 7, John Thorpe said, "I never read novels; I have something else to do. Novels are all so full of nonsense and stuff; there has not been a tolerably decent one come out since Tom Jones, except The Monk; I read that t'other day; but as for all the others, they are the stupidest things in creation."

Now we get a completely opposite thought from Mr. Tilney, who proudly admits to having "read hundreds and hundreds" of novels. Further, he rejects Catherine's impression "that young men despised novels amazingly," by stating that young men "read nearly as many [novels] as women." So much for the idea that novels are an exclusively feminine pastime beneath the notice of men.