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Northanger Abbey - Blog Posts
JOMP Book Photo Challenge || November || 4 || Gives Me the Giggles
Jane Austen
I watched Persuasion (2022) and can't BELIEVE how terrible it was. Like I heard it was bad. But I never thought I would get so much cringe from a Jane Austen movie.....
As if writers actually think gen Z won't understand Jane Austen's writing.
The reason we read Jane Austen is to read lines like
"You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you"
Have I memorised that....YES!!!
Persuasion (2022) tried to be the next Emma (2020) but became Bridgerton.
If you are not a Darcy, a Tilney, a Wentworth or a Knightley, I am not interested.
Favourite Jane Austen novels (a.k.a all books)
1. Emma
2. Pride and Prejudice
3. Northanger Abbey
4. Persuasion
5. Mansfield Park
6. Sense and Sensibility
7. Lady Susan
With Jane Austen being a possible inspiration for Good Omens season 2, there has been some speculations about what parallels could be drawn between main couple in Jane Austen’s books and our heroes. Pride and Prejudice has been floated around, which is not surprising since it’s the most famous of her works. Others speculate that Emma might be a good fit for Aziraphale, since he is apparently a landlord and meddles in the love life of humans. Persuasion is also a likely candidate, full of pining as it is. All of them possibilities, all of them good choices. However, I would like to put Northanger Abbey forward, for two reasons: 1. It’s funny as hell. 2. It contains the following quote:
“[T]hough Henry was now sincerely attached to her, though he felt and delighted in all the excellencies of her character and truly loved her society, I must confess that his affection originated in nothing better than gratitude, or, in other words, that a persuasion of her partiality for him had been the only cause of giving her a serious thought. It is a new circumstance in romance, I acknowledge, and dreadfully derogatory of an heroine's dignity; but if it be as new in common life, the credit of a wild imagination will at least be all my own.”
And I’m sorry to say, but I do think it applies here.
‘I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature. My attachments are always excessively strong.’
Jane Austen, “Northanger abbey”
“I have no notion of loving people by halves; it is not in my nature.”
Isabella Thorpe, Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
"no one who had ever seen catherine morland in her infancy, would have supposed her born to be an heroine"
jane austen, from "northanger abbey"
photos i took and posted in facebook a long time ago.
End of event round-up!
Thank you to everyone who created such amazing fanworks for Janeuary 2025, and to those who supported the creators by reading, leaving kudos and comments, and liking and reblogging!
Major kudos to Kalee233 and @arsenic-lobster who each created something for every single day of the event! Wow!
Also a special shout-out to these folks who created for over 15 of the days: @elmorinn, @jomiddlemarch, @dionysiaproductions, Kissed _by_Circe
But even if you created for only one day, we’re so thrilled you did. As of today, 57 creators together added 104 fics (view the entire collection on AO3) and 40 pieces of art related to Jane Austen into the world!
🙏 Before I give you any other stats, can I ask you to take 1 minute to fill out this survey about the event? Thanks!
Ok, now that that’s done, here's some other stats (which are subject to change as people keep submitting late works—it’s still not too late to do that, folks!):
Total # of all fanworks: 172
Fanfic: 98 works
Fanart: 27
OC art: 13
Fanvids: 6
Memes: 6
OC fic: 6
Comics: 5
Gifsets: 4
Edits: 3
Moodboards: 2
Crack: 1
Photography: 1
All fandoms: 25
Pride and Prejudice: 62 works
Persuasion: 30
Emma: 24
Sense and Sensibility: 23
Original works (no fandom): 22
Northanger Abbey: 19
Mansfield Park: 6
Rivals: 4
Sanditon: 2
Beauty and the Beast: 2
ACOTAR: 2
1 work each: Attack on Titan, Avatar: The Legend of Korra, Blackadder, The Borgias, The Good Place, Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Leverage, Lord of the Rings, Mass Effect, MCU, The Mirror Visitor, Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
We also had 2 works about Jane Austen herself, and I’m not sure what fandom to count that as: Jane Austen RPF?
Top 13 daily prompts used:
Day 1 Letters: 22 works
Day 4 Portraiture and Day 16 Gossip are tied: 16 works each
Day 2 Harp: 15
Day 6 Restraint and Day 13 Christian name are tied: 13 works each
3-way tie between Day 3 Bath, Day 8 Cravat, and Day 20 Dearest: 12 works each
4-way tie between Day 11 Card playing, Day 14 Pianoforte, 19 Lock of hair, Day 30 Garden: 11 works each
Top 10 characters used:
Elizabeth Bennet
Fitzwilliam Darcy
Anne Elliot
Emma Woodhouse
Captain Wentworth
Marianne Dashwood
Catherine Morland
George Knightley
Colonel Brandon
Henry Tilney
Top 10 ships used:
Elizabeth Bennet/Fitzwilliam Darcy
Anne Elliot/Captain Wenworth
George Knightley/Emma Woodhouse
Colonel Brandon/Marianne Dashwood
Catherine Morland/Henry Tilney
Charles Bingley/Jane Bennet
4-way tie between Catherine & Isabella, Charlotte & Elizabeth, Charlotte/Collins, and Elinor & Marianne
Observations, surprises, and learnings
Mostly canon pairings: Almost everyone depicted canon romantic and platonic pairings. Only 7 romantic ships were non-canon pairings, and they each had only 1 work. Not a single one was gay! 😢 (Which is motivating me to finally write that Wentworth/Brandon fic for next year!)
Mostly core Austen fandoms: I expected a lot more works from non-Austen fandoms, given how often I see people draw and write Regency AUs for every fandom under the sun, as well as original works, and given how many people from non-Austen fandoms I notified about the event! Also, not a single work was submitted related to a modern Austen adaptation, like Bride and Prejudice, Clueless, or Lizzie Bennet Diaries. I’m not disappointed by any of this, just surprised.
Very few gifs: While I love the 4 new gifsets made for the event, I was disappointed there were only 4, considering how many Austen gifsets I see made for Period Drama Appreciation Week, for instance, and how popular Austen gifsets are on Tumblr. Next year, I will make a concerted effort to contact more gif-makers. (And if you have any you’d love to see join, tell them about this blog! I only just found out about @regencysource yesterday, curses!)
Creativity boost: Several people told me that this event inspired them to start writing again after a block, or post a fic for the first time, or finish a fic they were stuck on. This was so wonderful to hear that the event boosted creators in this way! It made me so very happy. ❤️
Prompt interpretation: My goal with the prompts was that they be somewhat Austen/Regency-specific but not the standard, obvious choices like balls, dancing, proposals, etc., because those wouldn’t be very inspiring since they’re so common already. It was a joy to see the different ways that people used the prompts. For instance, Bath the place vs bath the activity, or literally hunting animals vs figuratively hunting men. And even the folks who used modern AUs found ways to make the very dated prompts like cravat and calling cards work! Bravo on everyone’s creativity!
👉 If you have any suggestions for prompts for next year, or other feedback, I’d love it if you shared it with me via this very short and easy survey!
I had a blast hosting this, so Janeuary will definitely be back for 2026! Keep your eyes peeled for the prompts in September!
Day 30 - Garden🦋💐
Inspired by ✨Janeuary Month✨ prompts on Tumblr
🎥 Pride & Prejudice (2005), Northanger Abbey (2007), Emma (2020).
📺 Pride & Prejudice (1995).
🎶 Fantasy Dream, Frederic Sans.
🎞️ Pride & Prejudice (1995) and Northanger Abbey (2007) Scenes from "Mistress of Pemberley" (YouTube).
@janeuary-month
Day 28 - Gloves (or lack thereof)🧤🌦️
212 years ago, on January 28, 1813, Jane Austen first published 'Pride & Prejudice.'
Inspired by ✨Janeuary Month✨ prompts on Tumblr
🎥 Pride & Prejudice (2005).
🎶 Like a Tattoo, Sade.
@janeuary-month
Day 22 - Estate🏡🌄
Inspired by ✨Janeuary Month✨ prompts on Tumblr
🎥 Sense & Sensibility (1995), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Northanger Abbey (2007), Emma (2020).
📺 Pride & Prejudice (1995), Sense & Sensibility (2008).
🎶 Schattenspiel, Elias Kiefer.
🎞️ Sense & Sensibility (1995) and NorthangerAbbey (2007) Scenes from "Mistress of Pemberley" (YouTube).
@janeuary-month
Day 20 - Dearest❤️🔥💐
Inspired by ✨Janeuary Month✨ prompts on Tumblr
🎥 Emma (2020).
🎶 Video Games, Lana Del Rey (Vitamin String Quartet).
@janeuary-month
Day 14 - Pianoforte🎹💐
Inspired by ✨Janeuary Month✨ prompts on Tumblr
🎥 Sense & Sensibility (1995), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Emma (2020).
📺 Pride & Prejudice (1995), Sense & Sensibility (2008).
🎶 Gentle Agony, Pianza.
🎞️ Sense & Sensibility (1995) Scenes from "Mistress of Pemberley" (YouTube).
@janeuary-month
Day 9 - Tea & Coffee (and others)🍰☕
Inspired by ✨Janeuary Month✨ prompts on Tumblr
🎥 Sense & Sensibility (1995), Mansfield Park (1999), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Emma (2020).
📺 Pride & Prejudice (1995), Persuasion (1995), Sense & Sensibility (2008).
🎶 Dinner Time, Dennis Korn.
🎞️ Persuasion (1995), Sense & Sensibility (1995) Scenes from "Mistress of Pemberley" (YouTube), Mansfield Park (1999) Scenes from "Miramax" (YouTube).
@janeuary-month
Day 4 - Portraiture (and others)🖼️🪶
Inspired by ✨Janeuary Month✨ prompts on Tumblr
🎥 Pride & Prejudice (2005), Emma (2020).
📺 Pride & Prejudice (1995), Sense & Sensibility (2008).
🎶 National Anthem (Demo), Lana Del Rey.
🎞️ P&P (1995) Scenes from "Mistress of Pemberley" (YouTube).
@janeuary-month
"i would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light."
hellen keller
All the "Austen novels explained badly" Tabloid Covers
Most of the original text is from this post by @redwooding
Re-did the Pride & Prejudice one to look more tabloid-y and changed John Thorpe's caption to the funny version. Note: gigs during the regency period was a type of carriage.
Why you should read Northanger Abbey
Northanger Abbey frequently scores second on polls of least liked Austen novel, but I honestly don’t know why because it’s awesome. So let me try to convince you to read it…
Northanger Abbey: Everything you could wish for in a novel!
The Most Attractive Leading Man in Austen: I know you think you want Darcy, but do you really want a man who can’t take a joke? How about instead of insulting you at the assembly, he dances with you and makes you laugh! Surveys reveal that “makes me laugh” is a consistently attractive trait in a future spouse. Besides being extraordinarily funny, he also will willingly take you dress shopping, loves his sister, and reads novels. Shall we agree that he is the perfect man?
Most Relatable Leading Lady: Despite having a good education, are you sometimes a little lost in a conversation? Are you reasonably good looking, passably intelligent, and only somewhat accomplished? Catherine Morland is just a normal, everyday girl who stands up against peer pressure and falls head-over-heels in love with a cute guy. If she could be born to be a heroine, than all of us can be!
Villains So Well Drawn You Will Swear you Met Them Yesterday: Have you met a guy who constantly brags about his vehicle, talks without actually saying anything, and who assumes that girls will go for him even though he has nothing to recommend him? I have, and so has Jane Austen, its John Thorpe! Isabella is a classic drama queen who is dating a really sweet nerd but angling for the football star. You knew her in high school, I guarantee it.
Highly quotable one liners:
“I cannot speak well enough to be unintelligible.”
“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.”
“His departure gave Catherine the first experimental conviction that a loss may be sometimes a gain.”
Great life lessons:
“No man is offended by another man’s admiration of the woman he loves; it is the woman only who can make it a torment.”
“Beware how you give your heart.”
“Our pleasures in this world are always to be paid for.”
and best of all, a passionate defence of reading novels from the Narrator, who continues to be sarcastic and hilarious throughout the novel.
Northanger Abbey, honestly, what’s not to love?
But from fifteen to seventeen she was in training for a heroine; she read all such works as heroines must read to supply their memories with those quotations which are so serviceable and so soothing in the vicissitudes of their eventful lives.
- Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey
Rereading Northanger Abbey has made me realize that this book is extremely underrated. It’s not just poking fun at Gothic novels. It’s doing so much more than that.
It’s Austen’s most realistic book. Because she’s constantly contrasting the melodramatic tropes of novels with the mundane realities of real life, the novel hinges upon the tiniest of details and conflicts. Multiple chapters get their drama from the fact that Catherine wants to go on a walk with Henry and his sister, and it’s a big deal, because we know how much it matters to Catherine. More than any other Austen book, this story gets big drama out of tiny events.
It’s a coming-of-age story. It’s not that Catherine is learning that the real world isn’t like her novels. It’s that Catherine is learning that the whole world isn’t like her family home. She’s a very sheltered, very trusting person who has had a good, stable life, and it’s easy for her to think that everyone else is good and honest and trustworthy. Her development comes from learning not to trust what people like Isabella and John Thorpe say about themselves, but to see what their behavior says about them. Her maturity comes from learning who to trust, and when to trust her own judgement over everyone else’s.
It’s a story about stories. Not just about Gothic novels. The stories that people construct when deciding how to view the world or how they want the world to view them. Catherine is surrounded by people who are masking reality with stories. John and Isabella have cast themselves in a story where Catherine and James are the heirs to the rich Allens, and disaster falls when they make General Tilney buy into that same story. Isabella’s constantly saying she’s a good and true friend to Catherine and deeply in love with James, but she always tosses them aside when it suits her. Henry masks his true opinions with wit. John Thorpe is constantly telling stories where he’s the best driver and makes the best investments and has all the best ideas, and will reverse his opinions within seconds when it better suits the story he’s trying to tell. Henry gets angrier than Elinor does when Catherine seems to snub them, because he’s living within a story where everyone is self-serving and untrustworthy. And in the middle of this all, we get Catherine who’s telling no stories; her simple, sensible life has given her a boatload of common sense that helps her to eventually see through all these lies and find the truth.
This right here? This is exactly what I come to tumblr for.
Which Austen Hero is best in bed?
My ratings
I put them in alphabetical order for fairness.