The Woman Who Inspired Jane Austen

All of the authors on this site, Always Austen, have been influenced by Jane Austen and her writings. But did you ever wonder who inspired Austen? Who did Austen herself look to as an influence?

I don’t know all of the people Austen might have claimed as a muse, but anyone who has read Northanger Abbey recognizes it as a satire of romances written by one author in particular: Ann Radcliffe, the woman who practically invented the genre of gothic horror. In fact Austen mentions Radcliffe by name at least once in the novel, and the story is a parody of Radcliffe’s most popular book, The Mysteries of Udolpho.

If you’ve never read Northanger Abbey, may I recommend that you drop everything else and start it right now? It’s a screamingly funny story when you’re in the right mood. It has exactly what you would expect in a gothic novel: a sweet, naïve heroine, an ancient castle, stormy nights, mysterious trunks with manuscripts, supernatural acts, suspicions of murder, wives locked into attics- you name it, it’s in there. And we owe all these conventions to one woman.

So who was this Ann Radcliffe?

Ann Ward was born in London in 1764 to a middle class English family and had an unremarkable childhood. When she was twenty three she married a journalist named William Radcliffe. Despite having a happy marriage, Ann and William never had children. William worked long hours at his job, and Ann started filling those empty hours by writing. Over time she wrote a total of seven novels along with an assortment of other pieces, especially poetry.

And she was successful! Her first two novels didn’t gain much attention, but her third novel, The Mysteries of Udolpho, was a massive success. Her publisher paid her the princely sum of five hundred pounds for the story. It was wildly popular, as commonly discussed then as a good Netflix series is today. She followed this with three other novels, and by the time of her death Radcliffe was the highest paid author in England.

Radcliffe’s stories are known for their sense of horror, supernatural elements, and a generally foreboding atmosphere. No Radcliffe novel is complete without dark landscapes, abandoned buildings, and things that go bump in the night. They are also known for strong, independent female characters who take charge and control their own destinies. They frequently outsmart their male antagonists and they don’t generally need to be rescued, not by a man or anyone else!

It’s hard to overstate Radcliffe’s influence on English literature. Her influence can be seen in Jane Eyre, when Rochester keeps an insane wife in the attic and Jane refuses to live with him against her own principles. It can be seen again in Edgar Allen Poe’s stories that build suspense and horror in equal measure, and again in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Wuthering Heights would not be the same without its barren, windswept moors. Radcliffe’s influence is even still felt in our modern day tales of vampires, werewolves, and the like.

What was Austen’s opinion of Radcliffe? She didn’t say directly, but we can suspect it by the words she put into Henry Tilney’s mouth in chapter fourteen of Northanger Abbey:

“I have read all Mrs. Radcliffe’s works, and most of them with great pleasure. The Mysteries of Udolpho, when I had once begun it, I could not lay down again; I remember finishing it in two days- my hair standing on end the whole time.”

Clearly, Austen read and appreciated Radcliffe’s books. Have you read any? What did you think of them? Drop a note and let me know!