For Jane Austen's literature, Bath, located in Somerset, England is of special importance. It is featured heavily in both Northanger Abbey as well as Persuasion, but is mentioned as a location full of attractions and diversions in her other novels as well. The connection for Austen with Bath has two major timelines. During her various visits in the 1700s, and then in particular in May 1801 when her parents made the decision to retire there. Marked here is the home they ended up moving to after staying with her aunt and uncle for a short time.
When we look at how Austen writes of Bath in Northanger Abbey a book she'd written earlier on when her only experiences of Bath would have been her visits there, the main character of Catherine Morland says "I really believe I shall always be talking of Bath, when I am at home again--I do like it so very much" (78). But according to Gillian Ballinger, "Austen's portrayal of Catherine Morland's extreme delight in Bath was most likely informed by the writer's early visits there, not when the city was her actual home" (3). The reason why Austen scholars believe this, is because of how Austen writes of Bath in letters after her parents decided to move there.
Her negative perception of Bath after moving there in 1801 was likely very influential in her critique on its "vices and dissipations of individuals in her social milieu" (3) as reflected in Persuasion. Despite Austen's opinion of her time living there, Bath has become a tourist attraction for Austen fanatics. But due to many of its structures remaining unchanged, it has also become a popular shooting location for many modern day adaptions of Austen's novels and even for Netflix's new series "Bridgerton." It's interesting that so much of Bath's appeal is related to the author who had a lot of disdain for the place, and not for what originally drew the residents of the time, that being "the attraction of . . . its mineral-rich thermal springs, first harnessed by the Romans" (Radio Times 2), which were popular for their natural health benefits.
Sources:
Ballinger, Gill. “Austen’s Bath and Bath’s Jane: Austen Writing the City and Its Twenty-First Century Marketing of Heritage Jane.” Persuasions: The Jane Austen Journal On-Line, vol. 34, no. 1, 2013. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mzh&AN=2014581418&site=eds-live.
"Georgian grandeur; From Jane Austen to Bridgerton, Bath's golden facades have proved a perfect backdrop for glittering balls and fabulous frocks." Radio Times, 5 Jan. 2021, p. 144. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A647467531/ITOF?u=utahvalley&sid=ITOF&xid=93f5057c. Accessed 7 Feb. 2021.