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Date of Award
2026
Document Type
Restricted Thesis: Campus only access
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
English
First Advisor
Dr. Elizabeth Outka
Abstract
This thesis investigates the parallels between early critiques of the novel and modern critiques of the romance genre. I analyze Jane Austen’s ‘Northanger Abbey’ (1818) as an early example of a counter-tradition in which authors acknowledge and respond to critiques within their novels’ pages through direct and subtle defenses. I examine how twenty-first century novels borrow from this counter-tradition, using trope awareness and subversion to push back against critiques.
Recommended Citation
Rutledge, Eleanor, "Lessons in Reading: Tropes and Trope Awareness in Early and Modern Novels" (2026). Honors Theses. 1955.
https://scholarship.richmond.edu/honors-theses/1955