Her grandest gothic delusion is her perception of General Tilney as a cruel, gothic villain with horrible mysteries, intentions, and crime. Her desire for the gothic to be real at the abbey results in her latching on to anything that would fulfill her wish, in this case, the General’s less than affectionate manner towards his dead wife (181; ch. 22). The abbey amplifies her misconceptions with its locked doors and an inhabitant with “the air and attitude of a Montoni” (186; ch. 23). In the subsequent chapters, Catherine continues to delude herself with thoughts of murder or imprisonment, and these ideas blind her from the reality of the General just being a stern, manipulative, materialistic Victorian patriarch who hopes to gain a rich daughter-in-law. …show more content…
21, 23). Catherine’s illusions gnaw at her mind constantly, stopping her from analyzing the General’s motives towards her. Her obsession with the gothic architecture and manner of the abbey, and her misapplied attention to the General’s odd behaviors, like taking a different walk or pacing in a room, divert her from his strange inquires over Mr. Allen’s wealth and his own display of wealth, not realizing his goal to impress her and understand her status (178-84; ch. 23. Catherine does not question these notions as she is engrossed by thoughts of his cruelty towards his wife, displaying this degradation in her ability to see through people’s masks and words and grasp what is actually