] I have not read anything in the Northanger Canon, the books which Austen is parodying.

] No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy would have supposed her born to be an heroine

I decided to try and work my way through a bit of the Mysteries of Udolpho for this group read, and I do believe I might just have caught myself up in a neverending loop: I am reading Udolpho to appreciate the parody in NA, but the parody in NA is making me have fun finding things in Udolpho, which makes me laugh more at the parody in NA...

] My favorite bit along these lines? "She could never learn or understand anything before she was taught; and sometimes not even then..." LOL!

A couple of the descriptions in Chapter 1 of Udolpho's heroine Emily St. Aubert would seem to be the very thing JA must have had in mind as she described Catherine:

...a room, which Emily called hers, and which contained her books, her drawings, her musical instruments, with some favourite birds and plants. Here she usually exercised herself in elegant arts, cultivated only because they were congenial to her taste, and in which native genius, assisted by the instructions of Monsieur and Madame St Aubert, made her an early proficient.

and this bit:

In person, Emily resembled her mother,; having the same elegant symmetry of form, the same delicacy of features, and the same blue eyes, full of tender sweetness. But, lovely as was her person, it was the varied expression of her countenance, as conversation awakened the nicer emotions of her mind, that threw such a captivating grace about her....
St. Aubert cultivated her understanding with the most scrupulous care. He gave her a general view of the sciences, and an exact acquaintance with every part of elegant literature.

I was LOL as I read this, for what could be more opposite to dear Catherine!