I think one of the points JA was trying to make was that you don't need all the trappings of the Gothic Novel to be in peril.

Not many of us are going to find ourselves being locking in a moldering castle, at the whims of a madman - but we may find ourselves inhabiting the same abode as a General Tilney and be subjected to his petty tyrannies.

We may not be accosted by highwaymen with our life in mortal danger - but we may find ourselves in a gig with an odious man who refuses to set us down.

We may not have the person we thought our dearest friend, turn on us with a knife - but we may find that people around us are selfish to the point of ignoring another's pain.

We may not be turned from our homes, left to wander the moors in a blizzard - but we may have to leave a place unexpectedly and travel alone.