Discussion Questions:
1074:

• Explain the image of two inches of Ivory.
• What is a gothic novel?
• What is a novel of manners?

• Explain the opening sentence. Could these sentiments be considered Wordsworthian? sarcastic?  Explain.

• What conventions of the gothic novel is Austen alluding to here?  Describe her use of them.
• Describe Austen's discussion of female accomplishments.

• How has Catherine Morland changed by age fifteen?
• Explain:  "From fifteen to seventeen she was in training for a heroine" (1076).

• What is sensibility (see fn)?
• How "accomplished" has Catherine become by the end of the excerpt?

• Why does Catherine have difficulty understanding the Tilneys?
• Explain:  "Where people wish to attach, they should always be ignorant" (49).
• Explain:  "A woman especially, if she have the misfortune of knowing anything, should conceal it as well as she can" (49).

• Explain:  "From politics, it was an easy step to silence" (50).
• Explain Henry's comment that "There must be murder; and government cares not how much" (50).

• Is Henry's assessment of Eleanor and Catherine's thoughts valid?  Explain.

• What is the picturesque?

• Characterize Austen's description of the Pemberly estate.

• Explain:  "She had never seen a place for which nature had done more, or where natural beauty had been so little counteracted by an awkward taste" (49).