Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto which was written in 1764 during the Romantic period. Walpole was quite interested Gothic architecture and art. He went to great expense to decorate his home Strawberry Hill in the Gothic style. The Castle of Otranto is considered by most to be the first Gothic novel. The novel introduces many of the themes that are synonymous with Gothic literature. Some of the themes that are characteristic of a Gothic story are setting the scene in a castle, supernatural events, exaggerated emotions, women in fear of an evil man, along with a sense of mystery and suspense that permeates through the novel. These are all aspects that exist within the Castle of Otranto. In this paper I will discuss the ways that The Castle of Otranto sets the stage for the Gothic novel.
The immoral villain
The villain in Gothic novels seems to have an almost supernatural quality about them even if they are human. Characters like Dracula and Dorian Grey are men, who became more than men by otherworldly forces. In The Castle of Otranto, Manfred is human, but he does seem to have a sense of the supernatural around him. This could just be due to the supernatural events occurring around him, but there were a few times that I felt like as though he was going to reveal himself as being otherworldly. Despite being only human Manfred is a vile beast, whose only concern is maintaining power.
He is in contrast to all of the women over which he dominates. He treats his wife horribly refusing to comfort her as she grieves for their son. In fact, he is planning on divorcing her so that he can marry Isabella. In order to do this as quickly as possible he is running around trying to find Isabella, so that he can force her into marriage. Finally, he dislikes Matilda because she was not a boy and because she was of a stronger constitution then his son who was of fragile health. He is tyrannical and quick to violence, as seen when he threatened to have Theodore executed in the initial scene where we meet Theodore after Conrad’s death. Due to a comment that Theodore makes about the helmet that killed Conrad. Later in the novel he actually decides to go through with executing Theodore but is stopped by Father Jerome who recognizes that Theodore is his son because of the birthmark on his back. This of course does nothing to teach Manfred any type of lesson and when thinks that Isabella is having an “affair” with Theodore, he goes to kill her. He attacks in a rage murdering his own daughter Matilda and becoming a “murderous monster” (Walpole)
The Virtuous Woman
One theme in a gothic novel is the virtuous women who is under the threat of sexual violence. The sense of terror created by the fear of the unknown and the desire of the man to destroy the woman’s self. In the Gothic novel the pursued woman flees only to find herself incarcerated. In the Castle of Otranto, Isabella was betrothed to Conrad who was murdered on their wedding night. Afterwards his father Manfred decides that he is going to marry Isabella and force her to give him heirs. Isabella then flees into the “long labyrinth of darkness” in the “subterraneous” regions of the castle (Haggerty). In the novel both Isabella and Matilda are described as virtuous young women,” with high moral values and respect for the principles of religion” (liseua). Isabella’s virtue is constantly present throughout the novel. She is described by Matilda as being “of a cheerful disposition, but her soul is pure as virtue itself” (Walpole 33). Matilda continues on saying “Isabella is no hypocrite; she has a due sense of devotion” (Walpole). Isabella’s virtue is continually put on display in the novel
The Castle
The castle makes one think of the self-centeredness of man. It is representational of the man’s power. Whereas the individual rooms especially the kitchen and the bedroom indicate a woman’s power. The man’s power is indicated by the whole house or castle. This is to indicate that the man is in control of everything that is going on in his domain. It also says that this control has secluded him from others, because just as a castle is built to keep out invaders. The man has separated himself from his humanity, hope and/ or family. It is representational of the dark side of the soul. In castle Manfred who is afraid of a prophecy Manfred decides to try to force Isabella to marry him and to give him heirs. He does this despite the fact that he is married and Isabella was betrothed to his son. Manfred is determined to keep his power and like the castle he has built defenses up that prevent anything from getting in his way. Manfred’s fall is caused by his inability to accept his place in the universe.
An ancient prophecy
The prophecy prophecy “The Castle and lordship of Otranto should pass from the present family, whenever the real owner should be grown too large to inhabit it.” (Walpole). This prophecy though vague indicates that Manfred is not the real ruler or heir to the castle of Otranto and it is what sets everything in motion. This is what fuels Manfred’s obsession with procuring an heir for his line after Conrad’s. This is also what ends up contributing to his downfall. Prophecies are a popular element of literature going back into Classical Literature. It is the idea that a person will be held accountable in some way for his actions or for the actions of his ancestors. In Castle the title and castle was stolen by Manfred’s grandfather who murdered his brother. This action brings about the prophecy in part due to Manfred’s obsession with beating it.
Omens, portents, visions and supernatural events
There a number of these in The Castle of Otranto:
All the signs of a giant- helmet, leg and the servant sightings- This speaks to the prophecy coming true, because it says when “the real owner is too large to inhabit it” (Walpole). It is these signs that cause Manfred to become more determined to produce an heir.
The portrait of Manfred’s grandfather that came to life and the invisible hand- As Manfred chased Isabella intent on forcing her to marry him. The portrait of his grandfather “uttered a deep sigh and heaved its breast” (Walpole). Manfred was distracted by the picture which had begun to move. Despite this he still advanced towards Isabella, while looking at the picture. When his grandfather removed himself from the frame with a melancholy air,” Do I dream?” cried Manfred, returning; “or are the devils themselves in league against me? Speak, internal spectre! Or, if thou art my grandsire, why dost thou too conspire against thy wretched descendant, who too dearly pays for” (Walpole)
before making a sign for Manfred to follow him “Lead on!” Manfred spoke. The ghost proceeded to the end of the hall where it turned on a light in the chamber on the right side of the hall. When Manfred entered the room the door was slammed shut by an invisible hand. Manfred tried to kick the door down but was unable to. (Andriopoulos)
The blood that dripped from the nose of Alfonso’s statue- Three drops of blood drip from the nose of Alfonso’s statue (Walpole). After, Hippolyta discovered Manfred’s intentions to divorce her, marry Isabella, and to marry Matilda to Fredrick, even though Matilda was in live with Theodore. She decided to head to St. Nicholas church to pray for guidance. Father Jerome tells her not to give up on her marriage or that she will be seen as a sinner in heaven. Manfred comes to demand that Hippolyta return to the castle, as they are leaving three drops of blood fall from the nose of Alfonso’s statue. This occurs because "Frederic accepts Manfred’s offer of Matilda's hand" (Walpole) and in return he offers Manfred Isabella’s hand (Walpole) This is a sign that this was the wrong thing to do and the actions of Manfred had angered his grandfather’s spirit. Fredrick quickly withdraws from the arrangement, not wanting to anger the spirit. Manfred meanwhile remains as stubborn as ever refusing to entertain the idea of given credence to the signs he was given.
High, even overwrought emotion.
Hippolyta spends most of the novel emotionally distraught over the dead of her son. This is of course understandable but it did make her character quite dull, plus Hippolyta seems to be a reactionary character, who has no purpose outside that of being a wife. Isabella spends most of the story in fear of Manfred. Matilda spends much of her time being the obedient daughter before she begins to get some questionable agency and takes action to help Theodore. This is why is her agency is questionable, Matilda allowed things to happen to her, without any quarrel. Now when the male hero is jeopardized she will defy her father to help him. Isabella is the only one who has any sort of agency, even though most of it is obtained with help. She flees from Manfred’s room when he tries to attack her. Later she takes action to get the help she needs to try to escape the castle.
Getting Trapped in Dark mysterious spaces
One consistent trope in Gothic novels is the protagonist hiding in some dark space. In The Castle of Otranto Theodore helps Isabella escape through subterranean tunnels. She and Theodore eventually end up hiding in the caverns of a cave in order to escape the machinations of Manfred.
The escape
The is another popular Gothic trope. The virginal girl who represents innocence and virtue is pursued by the villain. In The Castle of Otranto both Isabella and Matilda represent the virginal maiden. She is also different from the other female characters in the fact that she actually tries to physically escape Manfred’s intentions due to her fear at being caught “Words cannot paint the horror of the Princess's situation. expecting the arrival of Manfred, and far from tranquilwithin reach of somebody, she knew not whom her apprehensions. She addressed herself to every saint in heaven agony of despair.” (Walpole)
Works Cited
Andriopoulos Stefan. "The Invisible Hand: Supernatural Agency in Political Economy and the Gothic Novel." ELH 66.3 (1999): 739-758. Project MUSE. Web. 14 Feb. 2016.
Haggerty, George. "The Horrors of Catholicism: Religion and Sexuality in Gothic Fiction." Romanticism on the Net 36-37 (2004). Springer Link. Web. 14 Feb. 2016.
Harris, Robert. "Elements of the Gothic Novel." Virtual Salt. 15 June 2015. Web. 14 Feb. 2016.
Loiseau, Charlotte. The Castle of Otranto: The First Gothic Novel. Literature. 2011
Walpole, Horace, and W. S. Lewis. The Castle of Otranto; a Gothic Story. London: Oxford UP, 1964. Print.
