Otranto

"The Divided Self": Characterization, Identities, and the Supernatural A cursory first reading of Horace Walpole's Otranto might yield an impression that its characters are thoroughly superficial, shallow, and flat, almost to the point of being laughably so. A single character mold seems to have been applied to each character: Manfred is the incestuous tyrant, Hippolita is the helplessly devoted wife, Matilda is the picture of “tenderness and duty” (38), and Theodore is the chivalrous protector

In the book The Castle of Otranto the people of the castle are surrounded by unexplainable events. These events are in most cases damaging to one’s own mind. Those who are seen as great and loving are turn in to violent and unpredictable individuals. Those who were affected include the highest level of nobility, down as far as to the simple servant. While denial is shown by them there is no doubt that they have changed, and only in disastrous ways. Weather the person has good intentions or not they

its fans. What it originally meant, of course, is "of, relating to or resembling the Goths, their civilization, or their language”. The aim of this paper is to explore and illustrate the different kinds of gothic elements in the novel The Castle of Otranto. The Gothic novel took shape mostly in England from 1790 to 1830 and falls within the category of Romantic literature. It acts, however, as a reaction

Victorian successors. It was a response against neoclassicism. This whimsical neo-gothic invention started another design incline. This affected his composition and actually, the English Gothic novel began with his 'Gothic story '; 'The Castle of Otranto '. Fundamentally, a Gothic novel is said to incorporate sorcery, riddle, heavenly, uncanny and tension. The interpretation of a Gothic novel contrasts from reader to reader. A Gothic work is to have a unquestionable mixing of remote setting, destroyed

from the modifications he made to his property. As did most authors of gothic stories from the romantic period, used the design of the setting play a key role in how the author creates horror. The Castle of Otranto, and The Romance of the Forest do exactly that. Chapter one of The Castle of Otranto, mainly centers on the declaration of love Manfred proposes to Isabella, and the escape of Isabella from Manfred after confessing his love towards her. The Romance of the Forest, focuses on Adeline and her

Prince of Otranto. At that moment the giant form of the dead prince of Alfonso appeared and announced that Theodore was the rightful heir of Otranto. Then Alfonso ascended to heaven and was received by St. Nicholas. Theodore was the son of Father Jerome, then prince of Falconara, and Prince Alfonso the Good's daughter. Manfred confessed that he had taken Otranto from Theodore and then he and Hippolita entered neighboring convents. Theodore married Isabella and they lived in Otranto as the prince

In the gothic piece of literature The Castle of Otranto, there are many conventions discussed. Also, there are many important aspects in The Castle of Otranto. After reading this gothic piece, I have identified that four conventions included in this literature is murder, the castle, curses, and a tyrant. I also recognize that this piece focuses in on three important objects and ideas which are, the idea of marriage, the curse/ghosts, and the statue of Alfonso. One convention which I have identified

The Castle of Otranto, in the novel, is perhaps Walpole’s signature achievement in making a symbol of the past which is also representative of the present. The castle is unquestionably the most powerful force, both physically and psychologically, in the novel. It is the primary setting of all the action, which happens either within or near the castle walls. It is described with a level of detail that is not given to any of the other characters and is, in many ways, more developed than even the character

Gothicism was the return to classicism associating with the medieval period and the notion of returning to a particular kind of past. Writers began to experiment with the conventions of literature during the post-renaissance which thus led to the form of this new literary genre. In the 18th-century there was a clear division between being male and female; men controlled and ruled society while women remained domestic housewives and raised their children. Men, especially, dominated religion and law

There is no doubt that Manfred mistreats the women in his life, in Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto. When Conrad dies, he demands a divorce from Hippolita, and then tells Isabella that he will marry her to produce an heir, no matter what she wishes. “’I tell you,’ said Manfred, imperiously, ‘Hippolita is no longer my wife; I divorce from her this hour. Too long has she cursed me by her unfruitfulness. My fate depends on having sons; and this night, I trust, will give a new date to my hopes