The Castle of Otranto

As you might have noticed, the last time I bought a book from Amazon I came away with a few others in my cart (bane of booklovers everywhere).

With Northanger Abbey in mind, I picked up several Gothic novels that were mentioned throughout the book such as The Monk and The Mysteries of Udolpho. In the midst of checking out on Amazon, there is a lovely page that details books that you might also enjoy. LOL Evil page that it is, I found a book called The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole and added it to my cart.

This week I wanted something short to read since my ILL loan of Rosaline Woodbridge should be coming in tomorrow so I picked up Walpole’s book from my alarming stack of unread books O_o”

The Castle of Otranto was one of the first Gothic novels in the literary world and was a model for many authors during the 18th and 19th centuries. It was written in 1794 by Horace Walpole, the 4th Earl of Orford under a pseudonym and was greatly praised when it first hit the streets of London.

It begins with the marriage ceremony of Conrad, son of Manfred, to Lady Isabella. Unfortunately, the marriage never takes place because Conrad is killed by a stone helmet that has fallen upon him in the courtyard of the castle. Manfred blames a peasant named Theodore who happens to mention that the helmet resembles one worn by Alfonso the Good (first ruler of Otranto) in the town’s church. The peasant is imprisoned inside the helmet and left to starve.

Conrad’s father Manfred, rather than wallow in grief over his son, devises to marry Isabella himself in order to provide an heir to the kingdom. Making his intentions known to Isabella, he notices several supernatural occurrences in his household, which illustrate the fact that Manfred is not the rightful lord of Otranto. Isabella subsequently flees rather than succumb to his advances. Meanwhile, Manfred’s wife Hippolita and their daughter Matilda do not realize that Isabella has fled. To make Manfred’s anxiety even worse, a herald and his knights have come to claim Otranto back to the closest living relative of Alfonso, the Marquis of Vincenza, Frederic.

The book continues to detail the obstacles that each character faces. Theodore’s true destiny as Otranto’s king comes to light. Matilda and Isabella both develop feelings for him, which results in the death of Matilda’s death by her father’s own hand who believes her to be Isabella. By the end of the book, both Manfred and his wife (a good woman) take to living in the convent and devote their lives to religion because of the deaths of their children.

Theodore, despite his feelings of true love to Matilda, eventually marries Isabella and we have somewhat of a happy ending.

On the whole, I quite enjoyed reading Walpole's book, but I couldn't help by giggling in certain parts of the book whenever I thought of Catherine Morland (Jane Austen's heroine of Northanger Abbey) and her obession with Gothic novels. The novel is a brilliant satire on England's love of Gothic novels during the time period. This is well-illustrated in the newest adaptation of book by BBC films as Catherine lies in a field with her newest Gothic novel resting upon her chest as she daydreams herself into the scenes of the book as the tragic heroine.

Do I suggest Walpole's book? Absolutely and you can't bet Dover's price at $2.50!! I hope to read some more of these Gothic novels after I have finished reading Rosaline Woodbridge :)