What is the difference between Mrs Morland and General Tilney?In chapters 30 and 31, Mrs Morland is shown to have a lot of common sense. This is shown in the quotes 'Wherever you are you should always be contented, but especially at home, because there you must spend the most of your time' and 'Then you are fretting about General Tilney, and that is very simple of you; for ten to one whether you ever see him again. You should never fret about trifles.' The quotes suggest that Mrs Morland is practical and she states the obvious to bring Catherine back to earth. In chapter 31, Mrs Morland's temper is described as 'mild'. Even though General Tilney wasn't very hospitable to Catherine, Mrs Morland respects that he doesn't want Henry to marry Catherine - 'while his parent so expressly forbade the connection, they could not allow themselves to encourage it'.In early parts of the book, General Tilney had noticed Catherine and enquired about her. John Thorpe had assumed that he was going to marry Catherine, and 'his vanity induced him to represent the family as yet more wealthy than his vanity and avarice had made him believe them.' John Thorpe wanted to make himself look good. General Tilney didn't doubt John Thorpe - 'never had it occurred to him to doubt its authority'. This indicated that General Tilney is shallow; he wants to believe John Thorpe because he wants Henry to marry someone wealthy.General Tilney only eventually decides to let Henry Tilney and Catherine Morland get married because Eleanor Tilney had married someone who had had an 'unexpected accession to title and fortune'. Because the General is getting money from Eleanor's husband, he doesn't need money from Catherine's family. This shows again that he is shallow and has different priorities to Mr and Mrs Morland, e.g. money is a big priority for the General but it isn't for the Morlands; they care more about the wellbeing of their children.
