Abstract: Jane Austen was an English novelist of romantic fiction. Her works, with ration and reason, exposed the pretensions of “neo-romanticism” and left no room for them, prophesying the arrival of the British realistic novels in 1830s. One of her representative works, Northanger Abbey, was her first attempt to describe the awakening of women’s self-consciousness. This essay first gives a brief introduction to the author and her work’s background, then introduces the symbolic interactionism in feminism and analyzes the awakening of heroine’s self-consciousness, followed by the conclusion and realistic significance.

Key words: Jane Austen; Northanger Abbey; the symbolic interactionism; women’s self-consciousness

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1.-Introduction-1

1.1 Jane Austen and Literary Career-1

1.2 Northanger Abbey-3

2. Symbolic Interactionism-4

2.1 Mind and the Symbol-5

2.2 The “I” and the “Me”-5

2.3 The Community and the Institution-6

3. The Awakening of Women’s Self-Consciousness Based on the Symbolic   Interactionism-7

3.1 Conducts Determined by Symbols-7

3.2 The Interaction of the “I” and the “Me” of Catherine-11

3.3 Fully Mature Selves Formed in Society-14

4. Conclusion-17

References-19