Defending Myself re: NA
Posted by J.L. on September 13, 1998 at 20:21:38:
In response to Catherine, written by KathleenB on September 13, 1998 at 13:09:57
] IMHO the point of Catherine is that she is a very ordinary girl who is still too young and unexperienced (no TV, rarely left her own village) to distinguish between what she reads about in novels and the reality of teh "outside world". Just think what things we can believe about other countries or cultures if we have no experience of them and someone tells us. Remember, Catherine is much younger than Elizabeth, Anne, Emma or Elinor. She isn't a damsel in distress, just a bit young and unformed. In the course of the book she grows up a bit, learns to value people better (eg sees through the Thorpes) and learns the difference between novels and reality. OK so JA is using a device to criticise the absurdity of the gothic genre but also creating a novel in its own right, which I am not so fond of as the others, but still enjoy.
]
I'm not trying to criticize or pass judgement on the novel or the character of Catherine. Heck, I haven't even read it! I was just passing along what I had read about it in a few critical essays when I was doing research on a paper comparing (quite ironically, considering your current discussion book) Emma and Tess. I leave this as a disclaimer, because I'm not going to pass judgement on NA until I've completed it, which will be some time in November. Until then, it's back to The Mysteries of Udolpho which I CAN say from experience is one of the most beautifully written slow-reading overglorified travel guides. About 3/4 of the book is scenery in Italy and southern Europe. I mean sure, it's lovely scenery, but the book is supposed to be about characters and plot, not a script for next week's Travelogue! That's all for now; I've still got the rest of it to read.
- The Mysteries of Udolpho Silke 07:57:10 9/14/98
(2)
- Udolpho and NA Constanza 08:52:54 9/14/98
(1)
- But isn't that part of what JA was trying to get across? SandyW 18:01:34 9/20/98
(0)
- But isn't that part of what JA was trying to get across? SandyW 18:01:34 9/20/98
(0)
- Udolpho and NA Constanza 08:52:54 9/14/98
(1)
- NA Chael 21:01:24 9/13/98
(1)
- NA J.L. 07:26:27 9/14/98
(0)
- NA J.L. 07:26:27 9/14/98
(0)
Posting followups to old messages is disabled; instead go to the main index and post a new message which mentions this one.
