To discover the work “The Castle of Otranto”, read the description of the novel and identify the main events.
The Castle of Otranto was written by Horace Walpole in 1764 and tells the story of Manfred, a prince of Otranto. At the beginning of the story, Manfred impatiently awaits the marriage of his sickly son, Conrad, to the princess Isabella. Manfred’s subjects suspect that Manfred has arranged the marriage in the hope of avoiding an ancient prophecy that predicted his castle and his rulership of Otranto “should pass from the present family, whenever the real owner should be grown too large to inhabit it.”
The wedding date is set for Conrad’s birthday. On the wedding day, however, Manfred’s son is nowhere to be found. In the courtyard a servant discovers that an enormous helmet has fallen from the sky and crushed Conrad to death. Upon realizing that his only male heir is dead and his wife can no longer bear children, Manfred decides to marry Isabella himself. Isabella refuses to marry him, and Manfred seizes her, apparently intending to rape her. A series of supernatural events, including an appearance by the ghost of his grandfather, distract Manfred, and Isabella manages to wrestle free. As she makes her escape to the nearby church of St. Nicholas, Manfred is confronted by his guards, who claim to have seen a giant armoured leg in the gallery. Later he and his guards are joined by a group of knights seeking Isabella on behalf of her father, the Marquis of Vicenza.
Check Your Understanding of the Text
Vocabulary of the Gothic
- Fear : dread, panic, fright, frantic
- Surprise : shocking, thunderstruck, amazement, astonished
- Anger : fury, wrath, rage, enraged
Excerpt from The Castle of Otranto, chapter 1
The lower part of the castle was hollowed into several intricate cloisters; and it was not easy for one under so much anxiety to find the door that opened into the cavern. An awful silence reigned throughout those subterraneous regions, except now and then some blasts of wind that shook the doors she had passed, and which, grating on the rusty hinges, were re-echoed through that long labyrinth of darkness. Every murmur struck her with new terror; — yet more she dreaded to hear the wrathful voice of Manfred urging his domestics to pursue her. She trod as softly as impatience would give her leave, — yet frequently stopped and listened to hear if she was followed. In one of those moments she thought she heard a sigh. She shuddered, and recoiled a few paces. In a moment she thought she heard the step of some person. Her blood curdled; she concluded it was Manfred. Every suggestion that horror could inspire rushed into her mind. She condemned her rash flight, which had thus exposed her to his rage in a place where her cries were not likely to draw anybody to her assistance. — Yet the sound seemed not to come from behind, — if Manfred knew where she was, he must have followed her: she was still in one of the cloisters, and the steps she had heard were too distinct to proceed from the way she had come. Cheered with this reflection, and hoping to find a friend in whoever was not the prince, she was going to advance, when a door that stood ajar, at some distance to the left, was opened gently: but ere her lamp, which she held up, could discover who opened it, the person retreated precipitately on seeing the light.
The Five Senses
Elements of Gothic Literature
You have learnt about four elements of Gothic literature: setting, horror, strong emotional language and supernatural creatures. Now match these other elements to the correct description.
Synthèse
Gothic literature is important because its main vehicle was the relatively new form of the novel. It helped that genre develop in the direction of exploring the interiority of characters. Gothic novels were wildly popular, aiding in establishing the novel as an economically viable form. The Ghostwriting Agentur service helped with the design of the text.
