Northanger Abbey Post

When we look for a new book to read, especially in this modern day, most readers tend to reach for something that would be a bit relatable to them. While we still enjoy the “classics” of literature there is a toughness to them. This is especially true for Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. From the decadent language to the romanticized ideas of how to find a spouse, the world that Catherine lives is simply not relatable to modern day readers. She is invited to a town where the only goal is to find her someone to marry, and of course after many ups and downs she ends up with the guy she actually likes. While the ending is fine, it’s the meat of the story that could potentially push modern readers away. For starters, people in the novel went to balls to interact with one another and just how Catherine was uncomfortable at her first ball is how the audience feels while reading it. It is also of note that in order for Catherine to have any fun at this ball she must be introduced by a third party to other people at the ball, however readers are not given that same luxury. It feels throughout most of the story as if readers were never invited to interact with the text, simply because there are very few places in which readers can relate. 

So what could change in the text? There is no assurance that every person will find a text relatable and that’s fine, but it is important to not have an audience feel alienated. Little changes such as a balance between characters. If we have rich members of society, like we see in Northanger Abbey it would be nice to also have some middle class and poor characters as well. Just simply adding characters from different social classes makes the text inclusive. While that is just a simple example, it is important for authors to understand that inclusivity is important even if it may not seem like it at the time. Though many of these books are still very popular we are hearing more and more that “classics” are hard to read and it may be because many “classics” tend to feel a bit alienating to certain groups and thus readers are becoming less and less interested in the stories beloved by the white people who could relate to these stories long ago.