Catherine Morland

Catherine Morland is the heroine of Jane Austen's 1817 novel Northanger Abbey.

A modest, kind-hearted ingénue, she is led by her reading of Gothic literature to misinterpret much of the social world she encounters.

[1] Many of her problems stem from her tendency to take people at their own evaluation;[2] However, while socially naive, Catherine also has an underlying sense of reality to support her;[3] and her honesty and strength eventually see her successfully through her troubles.

[4] Her confrontation at Northanger Abbey itself with the novel's main father figure, General Tilney, brings matters to a head.

Unable to see through his manipulations over her postulated inheritance,[5] or to recognise him beneath his fine words as a domestic tyrant,[6] Catherine turns to Gothic fantasy to explain her sense of unease, only to be embarrassed and humiliated when her imaginings of a gruesome murder are laid bare as false.

The protagonist of “Northanger Abbey,”Catherine, is shown in the original woodcut from Jane Austen’s novel seated in a high-backed chair, reading “Mysteries of Udolpho.” She is seated at a vanity table draped with brocade fabric in front of an ornate mirror. Her face conveys a sense of curiosity, suspense, and fright.
Catherine frightening herself with “Mysteries of Udolpho”