Donwell Abbey is fiction, perhaps based on the real-life Claremont Park in Surrey, Highbury as Kenneth Smith evidences in his essay. However, Austen did not make up the popularity of strawberry season. Berry-picking could start as early as May reach its peak in July and and end in September (Eat the Seasons UK has a chart to follow). According to Austen's chronology, it is the "middle of June" in this segment and, as Mr. Knightley assures Mrs. Elton, the strawberries are already "ripening fast". Joanne Major's essay "Strawberries and cream: A Wimbledon tradition with a hong history" provides a brief history of British strawberry fanaticism paired with images that illustrate just how long the berry has remained a British summer staple. Why does Austen contrast "strawberries" with "cabbage-beds" then? The Royal Horticultural Society answers that cabbages can be harvested year round. Together with potatoes they make up the latter part of another common British staple "bubble and squeak". Even the mundanity of cabbages, Austen tells us, might "tempt" Mrs. Elton in her current state of restlessness.

Donwell Abbey is fiction, perhaps based on the real-life Claremont Park in Surrey, Highbury as Kenneth Smith evidences in his essay. However, Austen did not make up the popularity of strawberry season. Berry-picking could start as early as May reach its peak in July and and end in September (Eat the Seasons UK has a chart to follow). According to Austen's chronology, it is the "middle of June" in this segment and, as Mr. Knightley assures Mrs. Elton, the strawberries are already "ripening fast". Joanne Major's essay "Strawberries and cream: A Wimbledon tradition with a hong history" provides a brief history of British strawberry fanaticism paired with images that illustrate just how long the berry has remained a British summer staple. Why does Austen contrast "strawberries" with "cabbage-beds" then? The Royal Horticultural Society answers that cabbages can be harvested year round. Together with potatoes they make up the latter part of another common British staple "bubble and squeak". Even the mundanity of cabbages, Austen tells us, might "tempt" Mrs. Elton in her current state of restlessness.

"espalier" is a kind of pruning to make fruit trees grow against a wall or lattice.

The White-Hart was a real inn in Bath, dating back to 1503 according to Bath-Heritage. It was demolished in 1867, but the White-Hart name lives on in a new inn and pub at a different location in the city.

"espalier" is a kind of pruning to make fruit trees grow against a wall or lattice.

The White-Hart was a real inn in Bath, dating back to 1503 according to Bath-Heritage. It was demolished in 1867, but the White-Hart name lives on in a new inn and pub at a different location in the city.

Penny Gay's article "A Hypothetical Map of Highbury" features her drawn map with Hartfield included.

According to Merriam Webster, someone whose "chief concern" is their health.

This turn of phrase describes the difficulty the match brings Emma, who must now lose a a governess and "sister". The play on words also sounds like "black mourning", further emphasizing the loss that Emma feels.

Penny Gay's article "A Hypothetical Map of Highbury" features her drawn map with Hartfield included.

According to Merriam Webster, someone whose "chief concern" is their health.

This turn of phrase describes the difficulty the match brings Emma, who must now lose a a governess and "sister". The play on words also sounds like "black mourning", further emphasizing the loss that Emma feels.

How different Emma's declaration is compared to Charlotte's in Pride and Prejudice (1813). Although Elizabeth is shocked by her friend's acceptance of Mr. Collins's proposal, Charlotte explains: "I am not romantic, you know. I never was. I ask only a comfortable home; and, considering Mr. Collins’s character, connections, and situation in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as fair as most people can boast on entering the marriage state” (Ch. 12). Emma makes clear that her high social status gives her privileges when it comes to marriage that women of lower social ranks cannot afford. Women like Charlotte, and, as Harriet quickly points out, Miss Bates.

How different Emma's declaration is compared to Charlotte's in Pride and Prejudice (1813). Although Elizabeth is shocked by her friend's acceptance of Mr. Collins's proposal, Charlotte explains: "I am not romantic, you know. I never was. I ask only a comfortable home; and, considering Mr. Collins’s character, connections, and situation in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as fair as most people can boast on entering the marriage state” (Ch. 12). Emma makes clear that her high social status gives her privileges when it comes to marriage that women of lower social ranks cannot afford. Women like Charlotte, and, as Harriet quickly points out, Miss Bates.

Isabella Thorpe's list is composed entirely of Gothic novels, a genre notable for its strong link between nature and emotion, and one which influences Austen's characterization of environments in Northanger Abbey. Commonly referred to as the novel's "seven horrid novels" (1), Isabella's book recommendation for Catherine is really a list of eight. Two lines earlier Isabella says "when you have finished Udolpho we will read the Italian together" in reference to Ann Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) and The Italian (1797) (2).

Of these eight novels, five are written by women, three by men, and two are translated from German. The first Gothic writers were influenced by Germany's "Sturm und Drang" ("Storm and Stress"), the proto-Romantic movement that stormed German-speaking countries between the late 1760s and early 1780s. The English translation, "Storm and Stress", captures the sentiment of the movement to a degree, although "shout and strain" also conveys further emotional shading from the original language. There was certainly clamor for such literature in Britain. For instance, June of 1807, The Critical Review wrote: "So great is the rage for German tales, and German novels, that a cargo is no sooner imported than the booksellers' shops are filled with a multitude of translators, who seize with avidity and without discrimination, whatever they can lay their hands upon...[these novels are] trash...[and] worthless objects" (3). That year there was no sign of stopping, especially given that what became more widely known as the Romantic era lasted until ca 1850.

"Sturm und Drang" and Gothic literature emphasized the enormous emotional power of nature, with Gothic literature taking a more supernatural turn. According to Denise Li in the Gothic Keywords Project, "[n]ature, in the Gothic, is often the symbol for that which is sublime [… it] appears to recall a more ancient religion, pantheism" (4). A glance at the titles Isabella names is enough to appreciate the strong emotional power descriptions of environments invoke. Eliza Parson's Castle of Wolfenbach(1793) imbues the building with the heft of "Sturm und Drang" through its German name, which translates to "wolf brook" (5). Like Radcliffe, her work is featured twice, since she also wrote Mysterious Warnings (1796) (6). Their contemporary, Eleanor Sleath creates similar nature imagery and conjures German narrative modes with Orphan of the Rhine (1798) (7).

The Necromancer; or, The Tale of the Black Forest is an essay in name and name changes (8). It was written by Carl Friedrich Kahlert under the pen name Ludwig Flammenberg in 1792 and translated by Peter Will, writing as Peter Teuthold in 1794. Will's translation adds more natural imagery than its original German, Der Geisterbanner, Eine Geschichte aus den Pappieren eines Dänen, or The Spectral Banner, A Tale from the Documents of a Dane (9). Meanwhile, Francis Lathom's Midnight Bell (1798) centers time instead of space in his version of the supernatural (10).

Even when the titles of these novels do not foreground the environment, when Gothic writers name their work after characters, they suggest people are as unpredictable as nature. For example, the titular character of Regina Maria Roche's Clermont (1798), refers to the protagonist's secretive father (11). Der Genius (1791-1794) written in volumes by Carl Grosse and again translated by Will in the English The Horrid Mysteries (1796) focuses on human mystery in its original title "The Genius" (12).

Not only do these titles display the depth of Austen's familiarity with contemporary Gothic fiction, but they also speak to late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century preoccupations with the uncanny in their environments and in their relationships.

For those with the means, Bath was and continues to be a popular vacation spot, especially during the summer months when the temperature averages around 60ºF. (1) Visit Bath, the city's official website proudly recommends the season: "Bath is beautiful whatever the weather, but it’s even more glorious during the summer months. Bath’s Georgian architecture comes into its own when the stone shimmers gold in the summer sun and the city’s leafy parks burst into colour." (2) During Austen's time, the summer population of the city was about 33,000, which was several thousand more than in the off-season. (3) Wealthy families arrived in droves to mingle with Fashionable Society and then dispersed as colder and wetter months arrived.

Austen herself lived in Bath between 1801 and 1806, and in her letters wrote about the transience of its summer inhabitants. In a letter dated 26-27 May 1801, Austen mentions enjoyable walks with a Mrs. Chamberlayne, but quickly adds “so ends our freindship [sic], for the Chamberlaynes leave Bath in a day or two”. (4) As she implies, temporary stays in Bath could mean temporary friendships and superficial acquaintances. Austen's sly humor may be on display in Catherine's observation that small talk about the weather is all anyone can manage.

Although Catherine exalts the weather and the chance to see people outside, during her time a common place for socialization on a Sunday would have been indoors at one of Bath's Protestant churches. (5) In chapter 24, Catherine describes another Sunday, where her primary excitement in the course of the day is sitting with the Tilneys in their church pew.

Discover what the weather in Bath is like today, by checking BBC Weather

For those with the means, Bath was and continues to be a popular vacation spot, especially during the summer months when the temperature averages around 60ºF.(1) Visit Bath, the city's official website proudly recommends the season: "Bath is beautiful whatever the weather, but it’s even more glorious during the summer months. Bath’s Georgian architecture comes into its own when the stone shimmers gold in the summer sun and the city’s leafy parks burst into colour."(2) During Austen's time, the summer population of the city was about 33,000, which was several thousand more than in the off-season. (*3) Wealthy families arrived in droves to mingle with Fashionable Society and then dispersed as colder and wetter months arrived.

Austen herself lived in Bath between 1801 and 1806, and in her letters wrote about the transience of its summer inhabitants. In a letter dated 26-27 May 1801, Austen mentions enjoyable walks with a Mrs. Chamberlayne, but quickly adds “so ends our freindship [sic], for the Chamberlaynes leave Bath in a day or two”.(*4) As she implies, temporary stays in Bath could mean temporary friendships and superficial acquaintances. Austen's sly humor may be on display in Catherine's observation that small talk about the weather is all anyone can manage.

Although Catherine exalts the weather and the chance to see people outside, during her time a common place for socialization on a Sunday would have been indoors at one of Bath's Protestant churches.(*5) In chapter 24, Catherine describes another Sunday, where her primary excitement in the course of the day is sitting with the Tilneys in their church pew.

Discover what the weather in Bath is like today, by checking BBC Weather.

Citations: 1. "Bath, England Weather And Climate", European Travel Weather https://www.travel-weather.net/england/bath-weather.html

1. "Seasons", Visit Bath https://visitbath.co.uk/summer/

2. Barchas, Janine. "Mapping 'Northanger Abbey': Or, Why Austen's Bath of 1803 Resembles Joyce's Dublin of 1904", The Review of English Studies, June 2009, New Series, Vol. 60, No. 245, pp. 431-459

3. Ballinger, Gillian. "Austen’s Bath and Bath’s Jane: Austen Writing the City and Its Twenty-first-century Marketing of Heritage Jane" Persuasions: The Jane Austen Journal On-Line; Williamsburg Vol. 34, Iss. 1, (Winter 2013)

4. Moore, Roger E. "Northanger before the Tilneys: Austen’s Abbey and the Religious Past" Persuasions: The Jane Austen Journal On-Line; Williamsburg Vol. 41, (2019), pp. 119-137.