For hundreds of years, women were among the many people in the world who had few or no rights. Subordinate to their husbands, they were legally not allowed to own property, or even to express their opinions within the community. Clearly this had to change. In Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen explores issues surrounding women's rights in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. While defending the novel throughout Northanger, Austen criticizes the society of the time and the unfair treatment of women by criticizing the most popular genre; the gothic novel. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay When Austin wrote Northanger, novels were considered the lowest form of literature. Only women read novels while men devoted their time to other forms of literature such as poetry or historical readings. Austen writes, “I will not adopt that ungenerous and impolitic custom so common among romance writers,” to begin to explain the negative connotation that comes with being the author of a novel (22). She goes on to state: “Whether from pride, ignorance, or fashion, our enemies are almost as numerous as our readers” (22). Austen realizes the hatred that accompanies the novel and she does not want to feel like her work is inferior to any man's simply because it is classified as a novel. In Northanger Abbey, Austin uses his heroine Catherine to explain her own views on the degradation of authors like her, who finds novels to be much more than men seem to believe. Austen even includes conversations with Catherine and her friends about the novels to show how society actually views this form of literature. Criticism of the novels first appears when Catherine converses with John Thorpe. To make conversation, she asks John if he has read Udolpho. John responds dramatically by declaring, “Oh, Lord! not me; I have never read novels; I have something else to do” (31). Although it may seem that John is just a busy character, he goes on to explain that "the novels are all so full of nonsense and stuff...they're the stupidest things in creation" ( 31). Austen then mocks John for his lack of knowledge about the novel that Catherine is referring to by showing him that he really knows nothing about what he is talking about, and thus proving that his argument is invalid. This type of reaction occurs again later in the novel when Catherine speaks to another male character, Henry Tilney. Austen uses this conversation to show how women are also affected by the degrading lifestyle in the novel. In this conversation, Catherine mentions the novel but immediately responds: “Because they are not intelligent enough for you – gentlemen read better books” (72). By showing the woman's knowledge of the subject of the novel regarding intelligence levels, Austen highlights the subordinate role that women played during this time period. The men were right, the women were wrong, and the novels would never be read by men because they were so much better than that. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when novels were looked down upon, the most popular genre read by women was the Gothic novel. Gilbert and Gubar write, in their short essay “Shut Up in Prose,” that “the novel is a status-deprived genre,” Austin suggests, “because it is closely associated with a status-deprived genre” (281). Austenuses this genre in an almost mocking way to criticize the treatment of the novel and the women around it. In Volume I, Austen begins her novel by explaining the simple life of Catherine Moreland and how, even though she was not raised with abusive parents, dark secrets, or ravenous villains, she was still a heroine (5) . Austen is clearly attacking the Gothic novel by beginning hers in this way, as it almost completely opposes a true Gothic story. It stays on the same theme of the gothic novel and the period by having its two main female characters, Catherine and Isabelle, be fans of this genre. Often they are described as explaining their excitement about the latest book they found and how wonderful it has been so far. In the conversation, Catherine mentions Radcliffe several times. For this century, Austen's characters portray the perfect die-hard fans of gothic novels. Gilbert and Gubar state that "Austin rewrites the Gothic not because she disagrees with her sister novelists about the confinement of women, but because she believes that women have been imprisoned more effectively by a bad education than by walls” (285). In Volume II, Austen completely maximizes her use of the Gothic novel by adding some of the most common themes found in any Gothic novel. This section of the novel is said to demonstrate the “illusions created when girls internalize the ridiculous expectations and norms of Gothic fiction” (Gilbert and Gubar 290). As Catherine rides in the open carriage next to Henry, he begins to mock her belief in the Gothic and put into her head the idea that they might actually be heading to a house with many secrets. She begins by asking Henry about the house they are going to, asking him, “Isn’t it a beautiful old place, like what we read about?” (107). Henry responds by describing a Gothic scene, telling of a former governess, a dark room, and a funeral apparition (108). Catherine is too excited by Henry's words, even though she expresses fear. It is shown upon her arrival in Northanger that she really hopes to find the Gothic inside their old home. Henry seems to taunt Catherine's gullibility and love of the Gothic during this scene, and it is clear that he views her as not having much intelligence or common sense to truly believe and appreciate this kind of entertainment. By making fun of Catherine in this way, Henry seems to criticize the reader of the novel. Upon entering the Tilney home, Catherine discovered that her living quarters were very different from those Henry had described to her. Austen writes a scene in which Catherine finds a heavy chest, and her curiosity gets the better of her because she has to open it at that very moment. Catherine's dramatic response to the chest makes her aspirations for the Gothic clear as she exclaims, "That's really strange!" I didn't expect such a sigh! –An immense heavy chest! – What can it contain? –Why should it be placed here? – Pushed back too, as if destined to be out of sight! (112). A few minutes later, after Catherine finds some simple bedspreads in the trunk, Miss Tilney comes by and explains that she pushed the trunk to the back of the room so it would just be out of the way. Austen provides a simple, domestic answer to the mystery chest to mock the way these answers are explained in truly Gothic novels. Gilbert and Gubar ask: “Could Austen be pointing to the real threat to women's happiness when she describes her heroine finding a laundry list? » to show.