Miami University By Katherine Kickle (September 2008) General Tilney’s timely approach to improvement of the Estate

Outline:

Often it is used to run peoples lives in terms of when they can undertake particular activities. Catherine often cannot understand this at Northanger but the clock does intrude on her personal thoughts. Argument is based around how the clock time is used by General Tilney as a means to deal with the economy. His use of the clock shows the uncertainty that came with the Industrial revolution. Delving into the world of Gentry Leisure and how the clock is reflective of society at the time.

Content: The essay creates an understanding of Catherine's character, the way and why she converses with Characters in a certain manner on the basis of the clock. Argument based around General Tilney and how he views himself as keeping authority by imposing a strict time regime. Society was affected by the changes at the time through implementation of the clock as if it where another character. The clock is representative of another character.

Content: Studying context of the time the paper is informative and allows for a better understanding of the reception of characters in conversations in terms of gestures- Example- General Tilney often gives hints to Catherine to compliment his home, but Catherine’s reactions are received badly by the General. “Viewing the General's chronometric improvements as both inhospitable and oppressive, Catherine Moreland's preference for the relaxed but modest Woodston at the novel's end is, in part, a reaction to the General's timekeeping dictum and, finally, an important register of the emotional toll that the General's improvement practices have wrought…”

What is relevant? The clock brought uniformity to society though time is overlooked by Isabella often refuses to recognise the time. The architectural changes that are made by General Tilney are economically beneficial in terms of what was happening at the time. Catherine’s response to the General’s architecture and comments about architecture reveal her inability to recognise the benefits. “Ultimately redefining the very notion of gentry leisure, Northanger Abbey functions as a site where domestic labour, leisure, and etiquette are all subordinate to the same rigid, time-discipline decorum that the General uses to regulate his home's marketable operations”

Informative? Explains how the clock places constraints upon society. Catherine initially is unable to be “Perfectly Punctual” but often the signs that it is intruding in her life become apparent as she becomes more and more aware of the time rushing to get places. Stating the time of the day in normal activities. The expectations of the gentry in comparison to the women and how women where often conveyed as the ones who spent their money on useless products e.g. Ms Allen and Muslin is explored in the essay and yet Henry is able to join in their discourse showing that men where the same in expenditure as women.

Informative? Expectations of women at the time are reflected through implementing of the Generals strict time regime General Tilney sees time as a requirement and using is the keep order within his household reflective of the economic state “General Tilney's reliance on clock time to manage his estate's operations indicates a relatively unexamined aspect of the debate.”

Informative? Isabella refuses to adhere to the time of the clock shows what type of character she is, even Thorpe her brother is aware of her refusal to adhere to the clocks restraints i.e. she refuses to be stuck by her poor social status The clocks representation of a character who dominants throughout the novel as a constant reminder of the declining economy Catherine and others struggle within their social classes, in a time of economic challenges especially for the gentry: “Thus Austen contrasts the leisure of Bath to the labour of Northanger in order to highlight the new economic challenges that the landed gentry face…”

Gentry is defined as a man of good- breeding one that has been born into a wealthy family Commercial nature of the English gentry “…Catherine Morland, while on a much anticipated solo exploration of the estate, stumbles upon the door to Mrs. Tilney’s former sleeping apartment. Immediately realising that “it was no time for thought…” (p194) Information:

“General Tilney's time-discipline management style suggests his anxiety about his home's declining value and his insistence on regulating his family's emotional lives. It reflects his effort to recoup some of his diminishing economic and patriarchal authority.”