Purpose of Travel

An Escape from Reality: the Purpose of Travel and Movement 

           While the plots of the novels we have read this semester have greatly varied, in all of them physical movement of many characters was involved. Travel (to Bath, Lyme, Paris, etc.) featured heavily in these novels. Movement worked as a formal tool for plot development in epistolary novels, to introduce new characters, and to allow characters freedom from social norms. In this essay, I will examine the ways in which movement and travel were used in various novels we have read this semester. I will focus on Desmond, The Romance of the Forest, Northanger Abbey, and Persuasion. While slightly varied in each work, travel proved to be an escape from reality for both the characters and readers.

            Charlotte Smith’s Desmond focuses on Desmond’s trip to Paris in the midst of the French Revolution. Smith’s novel is highly politicized; with the majority of the first volume examining the political context in which the revolution took place. Smith’s novel was written in the epistolary mode, making travel and movement of the characters entirely necessary. The characters have to be separated by large distances in order for the plot to progress. Strangely, this mode of writing actually hinders the plot in a way, because the characters are never together. As we discussed in class, the epistolary mode enabled Charlotte Smith to express her political views without fear of being attacked for being so open. There is a certain distancing effect of placing her thoughts and feelings on the revolution in someone else’s voice. Her views become more digestible.

What matters most in this novel is its political message, though. Smith’s views were in contrast to the majority of representations of the French Revolution in England. As written in The London Times, “The Republican Tyrants of France have now carried their bloody purposes to the uttermost diabolic stretch of savage cruelty. They have murdered their King without even the shadow of justice, and of course they cannot expect friendship nor intercourse with any civilized part of the world” (London Times 2). Smith’s message is clearly different than the one in represented in this article. The message (as a result of Smith’s distancing effect) could not have been so boldly written without the epistolary mode, which would not have been possible without the movement of the characters.

            The movement of characters in Desmond also provides them with a certain, more expanded sense of agency (especially the female characters). This notion applies specifically to the character of Geraldine. At the beginning of the novel, Geraldine is stationary and stuck in a terrible marriage. However, by the end of the novel she is moving across the country in an attempt to locate her husband. Her physical movement empowers her in a way, giving her more agency and more control over her own life (something she completely lacked when she was stationary). As I will explain in greater depth later, movement to exotic or different locales often enables characters to act in ways that would not ordinarily be socially acceptable. This is certainly the case with Geraldine at the end of Desmond. Moving outside of her established domain enables her to act differently than she did at home, which leads her to a happy ending.

            Ann Radcliffe’s gothic novel The Romance of the Forest uses movement in a slightly different way than in Desmond. The Romance of the Forest is not written in the epistolary form, and therefore movement is not necessary to continue the plot. The reasons for including movement and travel in the gothic novel are born out of the fashions of the time. Tourism during this period was at an all-time high. Members of the aristocracy often went on the Grand Tour, seeing sights throughout England the northern Europe. Such tourism was often an attempt for people to find nature and take in picturesque sights. The popularity of tourism was a source of inspiration of gothic writers, who sought to incorporate the picturesque into their writings. 

Drawings of the sites, such as the one above from William Gilpin, were extremely common products of tours. Gilpin’s drawing shows Tintern Abbey, one of the most popular tourist destinations.)

 

           Travel writing clearly had an influence on gothic writings, such as The Romance of the Forest. In The Romance of the Forest Radcliffe uses movement and the description of the scenery to enhance the reader’s awareness of the surroundings. Like going on the Grand Tour, itself, people read gothics in order to escape their surroundings and be transported to another, more foreign, place. While written mainly for a British audience, The Romance of the Forest takes place in exotic France. This choice in interesting in that there seems to be little mention of French culture or customs, only French place names. The necessity of setting the novel in France is reflective of the time, when readers sought to be transported by novels. Readers can imagine that in foreign France such drama, treachery and evil could possible exist, while its existence domestically would seem far-fetched. The characters, therefore, must travel to exotic locations. Travel in the gothic is just an extension of other travel writings.

            Travel in The Romance of the Forest enables the plot to move rather quickly. Unlike in epistolary novels, where events have to occur and then be recorded in letters, this novel uses movement of the characters as a catalyst for actions. The action is at center stage, because of the movement of the characters, often at the expense of the plausibility of certain scenarios.

            Finally, the setting of The Romance of the Forest (moving through exotic forests and abbeys) enables the characters to act different than they might otherwise. The exotic setting enables characters to step outside of societal norms and do things they might not normally do. Characters with more sinister motives, such as the Marquis, flourish in such locations. Wealthy women, as Adeline turns out to be, can fall in love with accused criminals, such as Theodore. In the forest and the dilapidated abbey, a different reality exists that is different from the reader’s regular, more mundane, world. Anything can happen in this alternate reality. The movement of the characters therefore frames the plot, and the actions of the characters.

            Jane Austen’s use of movement in Northanger Abbey, in turn, is slightly different than in Desmond and The Romance of the Forest. In Northanger Abbey, Austen adopts the over exaggerated narrative techniques used in gothic novels, such as The Romance of the Forest. Travel scenes in this novel are often dramatized and extensive detail, like in the gothic, is given. Travel figures heavily into the plot, as Bath and Northanger Abbey are the two main locations in which the story takes place.

            In Northanger Abbey, Austen uses Catherine Morland’s movement as a way to introduce new characters and stress the importance of social connections. Catherine Morland’s trip to Bath produces new friendships and exposes Catherine to things she has never seen before. As we discussed in class, Bath was not only a popular resort destination, but its waters supposedly had healing powers for the ill. Bath was a place to see and be seen, a place to make connections and exhibit wealth and high social status. General Tilney, for one, claims to have come to Bath in order to meet with some well-to-do friends. Like General Tilney, Catherine Morland uses her opportunities in Bath to mingle with higher society. Her friendships founded in Bath, with both the Thorpes and Tilneys, have serious implications for the rest of the story. She even marries Henry Tilney, whom she met in Bath.

            Jane Austen expresses complex views about travel and motion in Northanger Abbey. Beth Lau argues that Austen’s attitudes toward motion and travel align her with many major male Romantic poets of the period (Lau 99). In Bath and Northanger Abbey, Catherine Morland appears to find the adventure and romance she was without at home (Lau 96). As written above, movement and travel one way in which characters are able to escape the constraints of their normal lives. In Bath and at Northanger Abbey, Catherine is able to live differently than she is used to. One example of this comes when Catherine is commanded (by General Tilney) to ride in the carriage alone with Henry (something she was not sure was proper). Because she is away from home, Catherine appears to break from normal social rules, rules she usually follows.

            Travel figures heavily into the plot of Persuasion. In this novel characters visit both Lyme Regis and Bath. In Persuasion, Austen pays a great amount of attention to accurately describing the topography of Bath. As argued by Keiko Parker, the topography of Bath is very closely associated with characters’ rank and social standing and “the entire city becomes a metaphor for the society she [Austen] portrays” (Parker 169). Movement around the city, and even to the city, can be read as a type of social movement. If the city is a metaphor for society, the impropriety of Anne Elliot’s visit to her destitute friend’s lodgings, judged so by Sir Walter, begins to make sense. While Bath serves, as a city, to reinforce social rank and status, in Lyme Regis characters are able to break from their social structure, slightly. 

This map of Bath shows the topography described in Austen’s Persuasion. The location of lodgings in both Northanger Abbey and Persuasion was very socially relevant. The darkened buildings were featured in Persuasion (Parker 167).

           The social freedom facilitated by movement is also evident in Persuasion. In Lyme Regis, breaks from normal social form encourage the characters to take risks, ultimately leading to Louisa Musgrove to fall and hurt herself. The wealthy characters (such as the Musgroves and Anne Elliot) are able to mingle with new characters in Lyme Regis, such as Captains Benwick and Harville. While both naval men are certainly high ranking, it is unlikely they would have interacted in a different social setting. Their interactions are acceptable because they are all on vacation. In addition to travel introducing new characters, in this context movement also allows for different groups of people to interact. 

This engraving of Lyme Regis highlights the beautiful scenery, described in great detail by Austen. As in gothic novels of the time, Austen placed great focus on describing the landscape. This attention to detail was probably born out of the great interest in travel and tourism at the time. (Feltham 283)

             Travel and the movement of characters play a crucial role in Desmond, The Romance of the Forest, Northanger Abbey, and Persuasion. In all of these novels, movement drives the plot (especially in the epistolary form), allows for the introduction of new characters, and allows the characters to break (slightly) from the usual social norms. In all of these cases, travel and movement provides both the characters (and readers) an escape from reality. While travel is used slightly differently in all of the novels, it plays a prominent role in each. This prominent role can be seen as a direct influence of tourism and travel writing on novelists (especially gothic novelists) of the time. As travel writing gained popularity, readers sought out books whose characters traveled, allowing readers to experience the freedoms of travel, too.   

Works Cited

“Execution of Louis XVI King of the French.” London Times 25 January 1793. Web.

Feltham, John. Lyme Regis. 1803. A guide to all the watering and sea-bathing places; with a description of the lakes; a sketch of a tour in Wales; and itineraries, by the editor of The picture of London. By John Feltham. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1815. Print.

Gilpin, William. A Picturesque View of Tintern Abbey. From Observations on the River Wye, and Several Parts of South Wales, &c. Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty; Made in the Summer of the Year 1770 (London, 1782). Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection.

Lau, Beth. “Home, Exile, and Wanderlust in Austen.” Pacific Coast Philology 41 (2006): 91-107. Web. 20 April 2012.

Parker, Keiko. “ ‘What Part of Bath Do You Think They Will Settle In?’: Jane Austen’s Use of Bath in Persuasion.” Persuasions 23 (2001): 166-176. Print. 20 April 2012.  

“The Romantic Period: Tintern Abbey, Tourism, and Romantic Landscape: Overview” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Web. 23 April 2012.