The Castle of Otranto free essay sample

Its first edition, published in 1764, claimed to be a translation of a work printed in Naples in 1529 and newly discovered in the library of ‘an ancient Catholic family in the north of England’. It tells the story of Manfred, the prince of Otranto, who is keen to secure the castle for his descendants in the face of a mysterious curse. The novel begins with the death of Manfred’s son, Conrad, who is crushed to death by an enormous helmet on the morning of his wedding to the beautiful princess Isabella. Faced with the extinction of his line, Manfred vows to divorce his wife and marry the terrified Isabella himself. The Castle of Otranto blends elements of realist fiction with the supernatural and fantastical, laying down many of the plot devices and character-types that would become typical of the Gothic: secret passages, clanging trapdoors, hidden identities and vulnerable heroines fleeing from men with evil intent. We will write a custom essay sample on The Castle of Otranto or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The novel was a success all over Europe, and the poet Thomas Gray commented in a letter to Walpole that it made ‘some of us cry a little, and all in general afraid to go to bed o’nights. ’ Walpole writes as if by formula. The standard Gothic devices and motifs are all in place, even in this brief excerpt: mysterious sounds, moonlight, a speaking portrait, the slamming of doors, castle vaults, an underground passage, blasts of wind, rusty hinges, the curdling of blood, and above all, in practically every sentence, strong feelings of terror (Words cannot paint the horror of the princesss situation . .  . ). But Walpole was the inventor of the formula, and his influence — on Beckford, Radcliffe, and Lewis in this topic and then, along with them, on subsequent English fiction (and on literature and films more generally) — s incalculable. Pytania z lekcji: 1) Fragmenty wskazujace na to ze jest to gothic novel: 2) Charakterystyka Manfreda, Hipolity i Theodora 3) Na czym polegala przepowiednia? Ad. 1 Gothic elements include the following: 1. Setting in a castle 2. An atmosphere of mystery and suspense. The work is pervaded by a threatening feeling, a fear enhanced by the unknown. Often the pl ot itself is built around a mystery. 3. An ancient prophecy 4. Omens, visions. 5. Supernatural or otherwise inexplicable events. 6. High, even overwrought emotion. . Women in distress. 8. Women threatened by a powerful, impulsive, tyrannical male. 9. The metaphor of gloom and horror. 10. The vocabulary of the gothic. (ghost, haunted, frightened, dismal, shocking, despair, dread etc). Ad. 2 * Manfred  Ã¢â‚¬â€ the lord of the Castle of Otranto. He is the father of Conrad and Matilda, and the husband of Hippolita. After his son is killed by the falling helmet, he becomes obsessed with the idea of ending his marriage with Hippolita in pursuit of the much younger Isabella, who was supposed to marry his son. Manfred serves as the prime  antagonist  of the novel; he is the dictatorial ruler and father that drives the plot forward in a depiction of deranged cruelty visited upon his children. [1] * Hippolita  Ã¢â‚¬â€ the wife of Manfred and the mother of Conrad and Matilda. After having lost her son, she is left with just Matilda to combat the tyrannical turn of mind that her husband displays. Manfred intends to divorce her due to her sterility and on the grounds that their marriage is in fact false because they are actually related. Faced with the threat of divorce, Hippolita is mournful yet submissive to the wills of her husband. She acts as a sort of enabler to her husband, putting aside her morals and happiness so that her husband can get what he wants. * Theodore  Ã¢â‚¬â€ at the beginning of the novel, Theodore appears to be a mere minor character, whose role is purely to point out the significance of the helmet as a link to the fulfillment of the prophecy. However, he emerges as a main character after Manfred orders him to be imprisoned within the helmet for his insolence and he escapes, only to help Isabella escape from the castle through a trapdoor. He is revealed later in the novel to be the lost son of Friar Jerome. Theodore proceeds to protect Isabella from the wanton lust of Manfred. He captures the hearts of both Isabella and Matilda, but settles for Isabella after Matildas death. He also later goes on to rule the Castle of Otranto. Ad. 3 Shortly before the wedding with Isabella, Conrad is crushed to death by a gigantic helmet that falls on him from above. This inexplicable event is particularly ominous in light of an ancient prophecy [T]hat the castle and lordship of Otranto should pass from the present family, whenever the real owner should be grown too large to inhabit it.