Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen

“From Gray, that

‘Many a flower is born to blush unseen,

  ‘And waste its fragrance on the desert air’

Catherine is quoting “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” by Thomas Gray, published in 1751. In this Enlightenment age poem, Gray ponders the lives of those now passed as he walks through a graveyard behind a church and questions what their lives and souls consisted of when still alive. Gray also reflects on the idea that all will die one day. Gray uses the metaphor of a flower that blooms in isolation, in addition to a gem in a cave, to portray the idea that nor all are recognized for their lives. Austen may have selected this line to show how the archetypal heroine often goes unrecognized.

“Not I, faith! No, if I read any, it shall be Mrs. Radcliffe’s; her novels are amusing enough; they are worth reading; some fun and nature in them.”

“Udolpho was written by Mrs. Radcliffe,” said Catherine, with some hesitation, from the fear of mortifying him.

Anne Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho is a classic gothic novel, the genre of which Austen satirizes in Northanger Abbey. Radcliffe’s work follows the heroine Emily whose life is changed upon moving to the castle Udolpho. Catherine reads and enjoys this novel, further confirming her interest in being the archetypal heroine as Austen suggests. When John contradicts himself in his disdain for novels here, Austen again illuminates the role of the novel as a determining factor of status. He attempts to distinguish between high and low-class literature but shows that it is all one when he does not recognize The Mysteries of Udolpho as Radcliffe’s work.

“On Being Brought from Africa to America” by Phyllis Wheatley

“Their colour is a diabolic die.”

Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain,

  May be refin’d, and join th’ angelic train.

Phyllis Wheatley refers to Cain, the Biblical child of Adam and Eve, who murdered his own brother out of jealousy. As the first murderer, Wheatley alludes to Cain to show how even the worst of sinners can be redeemed to the divine and be healed. Wheatley’s audience of white Americans would recognize the allusion and make the connection to the overall message.

Darkness is a prevalent theme in this poem as a whole. Wheatley uses the words diabolical die, benighted, and sable to portray the extreme discrimination of the black race in America. Sable, according to the OED, refers to both a dark color itself, as well as “mourning garments.” Benighted also carries a connotation of “the effect of sorrow, disappointment, etc., upon one’s face, prospects, or life.” This adds an element of grief and pain that discrimination in America.

The Sea View, by Charlotte Smith

Charlotte Smith uses severe and powerful language at the turn in the poem to intensify the juxtaposition between the serenity of the first eight lines and the war-torn remaining lines. The plague-spots, demons, death, destructive fires, and so on bring a dark tone that is the antitheses of the preceding lines. The bloody scene is further amplified with the pause between destructive fires and the mangled dead. This forces the reader to focus and emphasize these words which come as a surprise.