Masterpiece Jane Austen Season: Northanger Abbey

Some movies are so good, so close to the book, that I have to read the book again for enjoyment. Northanger Abbey was like that. But Persuasion was the opposite. It was a pathetic excuse for a movie. I liked Northanger Abbey, and enjoyed the dialogue being existent in this movie. I prefer to forget the modern interpretation of Isabella's flirtation with Captain Tilney, of course.

The only other main plot change, I thought, was that Henry seemed to be after Miss Morland the whole time. Didn't she sort of grow on him, in the book, despite being virtually a child? Her enthusiastic admiration won him over. This change to the movie lessened the importance of Elinor's friendship with Catherine.

Ok. Northanger Abbey is a comedy. The book is, and the movie kept the tone and a lot of the original dialogue and situational comedy along with interesting, ridiculous people. I'm not saying that Jane Austen practiced on Northanger Abbey what she would put into later novels, but we can see similar characters and story lines. Isabella's manipulative confiding in Catherine is like Lucy in Sense and Sensibility. Catherine's family is like that of Fanny Price. Henry is in a similar economic situation to Edward Ferrars. Elinor, Mr. Tilney's sweet younger sister, is reminiscent of Georgiana. Mrs. Jenkins and Mrs. Allen have a lot in common. Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen, was a lighter novel, with less-developed characters.

To God be all glory.