The secret of the cluster

Jane Austen reveals a new side to her in her book The Secret of the Cloister, published posthumously. This is her last complete novel, in which the writer's ironic expressive power is revealed in a very entertaining way. As in all her works, here too she depicts the journey of a young girl, whom she presents as an "anti-heroine" from the very beginning. Catherine Morland, who grew up in a family with many children and was not particularly wealthy, cannot boast of any special qualities, she is neither charming, talented or optimistic, she is only a great admirer of the Gothic horror novels of the time. She also looks at her own life as if she were a literary heroine, and reads her own future on the pages of the twisty books. However, fate does not have in store for her either a carriage accident with a happy outcome, in which a knight appears out of nowhere to save the future lady of her heart, or glittering balls, or eternal friendships. Catherine's visit to the monastery may offer her the possibility of chilling adventures - haunted attic rooms, wax figures that look like corpses, tortured wives locked in underground cells, secret trapdoors - but here too, the novelistic twists and romantic secrets do not greet her, Catherine is only enriched with some life experience. As she begins to understand real life, losing her illusions, she slowly heals from her romantic nonsense and becomes a true Austen heroine: she gains self-knowledge. Her reward is not far behind, Catherine can open a new chapter in a now less dreamy-scary story: in her own everyday life.