Who’s who in Northanger Abbey, the 1817 novel by Jane Austen, with a guide to every character in our retelling for ages 6–9 by Sean Lee.
Northanger Abbey has a small, lively cast. In Bath, book-loving Catherine Morland meets two pairs of brothers and sisters: the witty Henry Tilney and his gentle sister Eleanor, and the showy Isabella Thorpe and her boastful brother John. Later, at the Tilneys’ ancient home, Catherine comes to know their stern father, General Tilney, the proud master of Northanger Abbey.
For parents and teachers, the characters make it easy to talk about true and false friends, honesty and the difference between stories and real life. Isabella and Eleanor show two very different kinds of friendship. John Thorpe’s tall tales cause real trouble, and Henry teaches Catherine to trust what she actually sees. Use the guides below to see each character’s part in Jane Austen’s original novel, and to find questions to ask your child after reading.
Our book-loving heroine • Honest and eager
Catherine Morland is a cheerful, honest seventeen-year-old from the village of Fullerton who loves spooky adventure novels. When she visits the busy city of Bath and then the ancient Northanger Abbey, she finds that real life is full of surprises, and that real people are harder to read than the heroes and villains in her books.
Full character guide
A witty gentleman • Clever and kind
Henry Tilney is a witty young clergyman who meets Catherine at a ball in Bath. He loves good novels, jokes and teasing, but he is also sensible and kind. He helps Catherine see the difference between the frightening stories she reads and the real world around her.
Full character guide
Henry’s sister • Gentle and steadfast
Eleanor Tilney is Henry’s gentle, thoughtful sister, who becomes Catherine’s truest friend. She is quiet and well mannered, and she has lived a lonely life at Northanger since her mother died. Under her calm manner she is deeply kind and loyal.
Full character guide
Catherine’s Bath friend • Dramatic and fickle
Isabella Thorpe is a lively, fashionable young woman whom Catherine meets in Bath. She is four years older than Catherine and full of big feelings and bigger promises. She loves bonnets, balls and gossip, but her friendship turns out to be more about getting what she wants than about being truly kind.
Full character guide
A boastful carriage driver • Loud and reckless
John Thorpe is Isabella’s loud, boastful brother, a student at Oxford with Catherine’s brother James. He loves horses, carriages and bragging, and he is very careless with the truth. He decides that Catherine admires him, even though she plainly does not.
Full character guide
Master of Northanger • Proud and strict
General Tilney is the proud, strict master of Northanger Abbey and the father of Henry and Eleanor. He likes punctual meals, grand gardens and, above all, money and rank. He is very polite to Catherine at first, but his reasons are not as kind as they seem.
Full character guide