A Fine Eye for Fashion?
Mrs. Allen played by Sylvestra Le Touzel
"Mrs. Allen congratulated herself, as soon as they were seated, on having preserved her gown from injury. 'It would have been very shcoking to have it torn,' said she, 'would not it?--It is such a delicate muslin.--For my part I have not seen anything I like so well in the whole room, I assure you.'" (Mrs. Allen upon entering the tea-room, Northanger Abbey)
During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, fashion was looked upon as a staple in life. Chances are you could tell someone’s social rank and class just by scrutinizing their attire. For women, their style of dress was used as a way to command male attention. This seemingly one-dimensional take on dress depicts the shallowness of the character at hand. In Northanger Abbey, Austen uses the character of Mrs. Allen as a scapegoat for these views.
It is through this character that Austen employs the power of satire to bring Mrs. Allen’s character full circle. Extending an invitation to young Catherine Morland (Northanger Abbey’s heroine) to join Mr. Allen and herself in Bath, she is more self absorbed in her self and wardrobe than in helping Catherine come of age, and do so in a moral way with a positive female influence. Through her personal encounters with everyone that she meets we see that her closet is the most important thing in her life, causing readers to wonder what she is lacking that her clothing is used to hide. Any conversation that she embarks on is dealt with by speaking of her clothing.
In the article “Dress,” Blank suggests that, “Austen’s fiction was similarly to depict dress as the concern of, at best, the immature—as in the case of Catherine Morland, who was yet to learn how little the ‘heart of man’ was ‘biased by the texture of a muslin’ (250).” This quote speaks to enlighten readers of the irony in Mrs. Allen’s love of material possessions and her ailments in helping Catherine to come full circle. It must be noted here that a muslin is a delicately woven variety of cotton fabric which was initially introduced by India. In Chapter 2 of Northanger Abbey Mrs. Allen is introduced in the following, “Dress was her passion. She had a most harmless delight in being fine; and our heroine’s entrée into life could not take place till after three or four days had been spent in learning what was mostly worn, and her chaperon was provided with a dress of the newest fashion” (10). From this point forth, anytime Mrs. Allen is regarded, she is always speaking about her clothing. This irony is purveyed over and again. At the first ball it is her fine muslin that she talks about to Henry Tilney, who humors her in her responses. She is also quick to note how much finer her dress is than that of her old friend, Mrs. Thorpe. In their conversation Mrs. Allen speaks of her gowns as Mrs. Thorpe tells about her children.
Later on in Chapter 13, Mr. Allen is telling Catherine of the moral wrongs of riding around with young men in open carriages. When he asks his wife for her thoughts on the matter she responds, “Open carriages are nasty things. A clean gown is not five minutes wear in them. You are splashed getting in and getting out; and the wind takes your hair and your bonnet in every direction. I hate an open carriage myself” (71). It is in this passage that readers truly see the shallowness in Mrs. Allen’s character, and Austen’s irony in depicting her.
Another problem with the expensive gowns that are so dear to Mrs. Allen’s heart is their fragile nature. They must be sent out to the launder as to avoid fraying or discoloration. It is in Austen’s portrayal of the Gothic satire at Northanger Abbey where Catherine mistakes a washing bill for a mysterious Gothic manuscript. Once again, Austen invokes satire to poke fun at the character while entertaining us with her overall scheme.
During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, fashion was looked upon as a staple in life. Chances are you could tell someone’s social rank and class just by scrutinizing their attire. For women, their style of dress was used as a way to command male attention. This seemingly one-dimensional take on dress depicts the shallowness of the character at hand. In Northanger Abbey, Austen uses the character of Mrs. Allen as a scapegoat for these views.
It is through this character that Austen employs the power of satire to bring Mrs. Allen’s character full circle. Extending an invitation to young Catherine Morland (Northanger Abbey’s heroine) to join Mr. Allen and herself in Bath, she is more self absorbed in her self and wardrobe than in helping Catherine come of age, and do so in a moral way with a positive female influence. Through her personal encounters with everyone that she meets we see that her closet is the most important thing in her life, causing readers to wonder what she is lacking that her clothing is used to hide. Any conversation that she embarks on is dealt with by speaking of her clothing.
In the article “Dress,” Blank suggests that, “Austen’s fiction was similarly to depict dress as the concern of, at best, the immature—as in the case of Catherine Morland, who was yet to learn how little the ‘heart of man’ was ‘biased by the texture of a muslin’ (250).” This quote speaks to enlighten readers of the irony in Mrs. Allen’s love of material possessions and her ailments in helping Catherine to come full circle. It must be noted here that a muslin is a delicately woven variety of cotton fabric which was initially introduced by India. In Chapter 2 of Northanger Abbey Mrs. Allen is introduced in the following, “Dress was her passion. She had a most harmless delight in being fine; and our heroine’s entrée into life could not take place till after three or four days had been spent in learning what was mostly worn, and her chaperon was provided with a dress of the newest fashion” (10). From this point forth, anytime Mrs. Allen is regarded, she is always speaking about her clothing. This irony is purveyed over and again. At the first ball it is her fine muslin that she talks about to Henry Tilney, who humors her in her responses. She is also quick to note how much finer her dress is than that of her old friend, Mrs. Thorpe. In their conversation Mrs. Allen speaks of her gowns as Mrs. Thorpe tells about her children.
Later on in Chapter 13, Mr. Allen is telling Catherine of the moral wrongs of riding around with young men in open carriages. When he asks his wife for her thoughts on the matter she responds, “Open carriages are nasty things. A clean gown is not five minutes wear in them. You are splashed getting in and getting out; and the wind takes your hair and your bonnet in every direction. I hate an open carriage myself” (71). It is in this passage that readers truly see the shallowness in Mrs. Allen’s character, and Austen’s irony in depicting her.
Another problem with the expensive gowns that are so dear to Mrs. Allen’s heart is their fragile nature. They must be sent out to the launder as to avoid fraying or discoloration. It is in Austen’s portrayal of the Gothic satire at Northanger Abbey where Catherine mistakes a washing bill for a mysterious Gothic manuscript. Once again, Austen invokes satire to poke fun at the character while entertaining us with her overall scheme.