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RE: Northanger Abbey: The gothic in text and film

in #literature • 7 years ago

I'm so glad I found your post! Followed you 😃
Austen books are some of my all-time favorites. I did really like the lead actress in this version of "Northanger Abbey;" she's adorable. Curious- did you think this was kind of Austen's experimenting with supernatural elements? Sometimes I wonder if she believed in ghosts, but they don't show up in her other works.
Just for fun, I've been playing around with writing a short-story series of a "Pride & Prejudice" parody set in modern times on my Steemit blog, called "The Devil Plays Mr. Darcy." One person suggested that if I added a supernatural element to it, then it might be fun for the next chapter when the Lizzie meets Wickham. What do you think?

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Northanger Abbey is unique from Austen's other novels. Although it was published later, it was one of the first manuscripts that she wrote. The supernatural appears in Northanger Abbey because Austen is parodying the gothic genre, which was extremely popular in her day. She is poking fun at the supernatural and superstition and showing how seriously reading such novels can change a person's perception of reality. I would suggest her other novels do not include the supernatural because she is critiquing other aspects of society.
Including the supernatural in your story would definitely be interesting. If you are basing it off of Pride and Prejudice, the supernatural might seem out of place since it isn't present in the novel. However, that shouldn't stop your creative liberty if you think it would make an interesting story. Happy writing!

Thanks- that's good advice! I think I might poke a little fun at some supernatural games myself within the story, but not going so far as to change the whole plot for it