Catherine Morland is the principal character in Jane Austen's book Northanger Abbey. She enjoys reading the mysterious and frightening gothic novels that were popular in her time. She often has a tendency to blur the lines between fiction and reality, which causes her a great deal of trouble. She is the neighbor of Mr. Allens, a rich man, and goes with him to Bath, a city in Northeastern Somerset, England. Jane Austen used her to mock the obvious classics where the perfect heroes fall in love with the heroines, and they marry and live "happily ever after".
Jane Austen, in the beginning of Chapter Two, describes her as having a heart that "was affectionate (loving)", a "disposition (character) cheerful and open, without conceit (pride) or affectation".