Blog #2

"To compose a letter which might at once do justice to her sentiments and her situation, convey gratitude without servile regret, be guarded without coldness, and honest without resentment- a letter which Eleanor might not be pained by the perusal of- and above all, which she might not blush herself, if Henry should chance to see, was an undertaking to frighten away all her powers of performance; and, after long thought and much perplexity, to be very brief was all that she could determine on with any confidence of safety" (Austen 220).

In this paragraph, Catherine's feelings and intentions are made super clear by Jane Austen.  This gives the reader insight on how Catherine views Eleanor, and how careful she is when writing her a letter.  Catherine's values are shown, such as honesty and gratitude, and her thoughtfulness towards others is evident.  This provokes sympathy from the reader, since Catherine was just abruptly kicked out of Northanger Abbey without any explanation or reason, and yet still wants to make her compassion toward Eleanor known.  She is also keeping her promise to Eleanor to write, which is something that she did not really experience, since Isabella wrote to her only once while Catherine was in Bath.