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B. A. Thesis of Shandong University of Finance and Economics
white cotton counterpane that was ―properly folded, reposing at one end of the chest in undisputed possession‖ (188; ch.21). Catherine felt blushed at the sight of it but she didn‘t lose her heart for more fascinating adventures.
The first night in Northanger Abbey was stormy, the wind blew strongly the whole afternoon, and it rained violently. Those characteristic sounds brought to her the dreadful situations and horrible scenes in Gothic novels, and for the first time she felt she was really in an Abbey. But Catherine knew that she had nothing to dread from or to explore or to suffer because the house was ―so furnished, and so guarded‖ (191; ch.21). However, she still looked around the room and courageously but fearfully peeped behind each curtain, hoping to see someone sitting there to scare her or a hand placed against the shutter. However, there was nothing. Then she was thinking to go to bed. At that moment, a mysterious cabinet appeared and suddenly captivated her eyes. It was a high, old-fashioned black cabinet, being placed in a conspicuous situation and thus escaped from her notice. The cabinet, with its key in the door, aroused her great interest and she could not sleep till she had examined it. Catherine placed the candle on a chair with caution and tried to turn the key ―with a very tremulous hand‖ (192; ch.21). At first, she thought there could be nothing in it, and she did find nothing after checking the double range of drawers. But later, she surprisingly found a roll of paper inside a small door in the center of the cabinet. At that moment, ―[her] heart fluttered, her knees trembled, and her cheeks grew pale‖ (194; ch.21) as she thought that the paper was some precious manuscript and grasped tightly in her unsteady hand. As she snuffed the candle and was about to read the paper, the candle suddenly extinguished. For a few moments, Catherine felt awful with horror and ―trembled from head to foot‖ (194; ch.21). She hastily jumped onto bed and kept wondering ―how was it [the manuscript] to be accounted for? – What could it contain? – to whom could it relate?‖ (195; ch.21). When she woke up only to find that many papers were just washing-bills, she felt humbled to the dust: ―Nothing could now be clearer than the absurdity of her recent fancies‖ (197; ch.22).
After two adventures in vain, Catherine seemed to become a little sober. However,
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B. A. Thesis of Shandong University of Finance and Economics
when she heard about the death of Henry and Eleanor‘s mother, and none of the three children was at home and only General Tilney was with Mrs. Tilney, her imagination, which was heavily influenced by Gothic novels, began to exercise. She thought General Tilney was just like Montoni, the prototypical Gothic villain in The Mysteries of Udolpho, who imprisoned the heroine Emily and his wife Madame Cheron in Udolpho with an attempt to acquire their fortune. Catherine believed that General Tilney was cold, pitiless, and cruel; and that he had murdered his wife and probably imprisoned her in some hidden chamber somewhere in Northanger Abbey. So despite two failures before, Catherine once more felt shocked and chilled at the thought of the guilty scene of murder and imprisonment. She remembered that there was a forbidden gallery where lay the doors ―of which the General had given no account‖ (217; ch.23). She thought firmly that unfortunate Mrs. Tilney‘s confinement must be one of them, and she was so eager to examine those mysterious apartments.
One morning, the General‘s early walk has provided Catherine a favorable time when she proposed to Miss Tilney to show her mother‘s portrait and apartment. But when they were just about to turn the lock with fearful caution, ―the dreaded figure‖ (221; ch.23) of General Tilney himself suddenly stood before them and he loudly and angrily ordered Eleanor to come with him, leaving Catherine stay in her own room for safety. As a brave reflection of the morning‘s experience, Catherine became resolute to make her second detection on the forbidden door alone because she thought ―the examination itself would be more satisfactory if made without any companion‖ (222; ch.23). She was finally alone and got the time to carry out her adventure. She quietly slipped through the folding doors and tip-toed into the room; before her was ―a large, well-proportioned apartment‖ (223; ch.24), warm and neat, like the most comfortable apartment in the house, with nothing extraordinary, anywhere but ancient, gloomy, and awful place for imprisonment. Catherine felt a sense of bitter emotions of shame and her heart was sick of its folly. What‘s worse, Henry just came back at that moment and surprisingly ran across her in his mother‘s room. On hearing Catherine‘s suspicion of his mother‘s death, Henry angrily and firmly informed her that Mrs. Tilney died of a
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sudden malady after being carefully treated by a respectable physician, and that his father, General Tilney, loved his wife sincerely in his own way and was greatly afflicted by her death. Being criticized by Henry for her wild and ridiculous ideas, Catherine then felt extremely depressed and ran into her room with tears of shame. III. Catherine’s Coming back to Reality
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