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wrenreads2025 's review for:
The Castle of Otranto
by Horace Walpole
If you want to reach back to the origins of the gothic novel, you must read Walpole's "Castle of Otranto." The novel is set in England during the crusades. It centers on how a handful of characters contend with each other over the period of two days over two questions: 1) who will be heir to the property/title and 2) who will marry the two fair maidens--Isabella and Matilda.
As the conflict unfolds, we witness libidinous regents, swooning women, virtuous knights, long-lost sons and undeclared heirs. These characters operate in a setting filled with dark passages, trap doors, menacing woods, and rocky crevices. We also get a recitation of events in Italy and in the Holy Land as one of the characters, a Crusader, recounts his adventures. And if that isn't enough, we have a few supernatural events to deepen the mood further.
I found the language to be simultaneously elevated and melodramatic. The novel lends itself easily to interpretations within the framework of Marx (claims for inheriting land and property), Freud (machinating to possess the bodies of young women) and Jung (symbolism in the swords, armor, chambers, and archetypes portrayed by the characters).
It's short for the tradition of gothic novels, so pick up a copy and keep the lights on and the doors locked.
As the conflict unfolds, we witness libidinous regents, swooning women, virtuous knights, long-lost sons and undeclared heirs. These characters operate in a setting filled with dark passages, trap doors, menacing woods, and rocky crevices. We also get a recitation of events in Italy and in the Holy Land as one of the characters, a Crusader, recounts his adventures. And if that isn't enough, we have a few supernatural events to deepen the mood further.
I found the language to be simultaneously elevated and melodramatic. The novel lends itself easily to interpretations within the framework of Marx (claims for inheriting land and property), Freud (machinating to possess the bodies of young women) and Jung (symbolism in the swords, armor, chambers, and archetypes portrayed by the characters).
It's short for the tradition of gothic novels, so pick up a copy and keep the lights on and the doors locked.