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leonkleinveld 's review for:
The Castle of Otranto
by Michael Gamer, Horace Walpole
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Castle of Otranto is very much the Urtext of Gothic horror. A lot of classic Gothic topoi can be found in this novel from the 1760s. No more so than the character of Manfred, being very much the ideal doomed Gothic lord who is scorned by tragedy all but inflicted by himself, when at the tail end of the narrative he mistakingly murders Mathilde, his daughter and favourite child</spoilers>. While a lesser character than in stories that were inspired by Otranto, the castle itself also plays a role of note. It is the setting of many supernatural actions and visions brought down upon the characters - seemingly the result of an ancestral spirit. <spoilers>When at the end the Castle is struck down into ruins by said ancestral spirit as divine retribution for Manfred's tyrannical behaviour the influence this novel had on future Gothic authors becomes rather clear.
One thing I that did but me off where the rather blunt displays of the politics of the time in which Walpole wrote the novel, mainly that women should be subservient to their fathers or husbands, and that men can do no wrong if they show true regret afterwards.Or: MATHILDE WHY DO YOU KEEP DEFENDING YOUR ASSHOLE OF A FATHER WHEN HE HAS JUST MURDERED YOU
One thing I that did but me off where the rather blunt displays of the politics of the time in which Walpole wrote the novel, mainly that women should be subservient to their fathers or husbands, and that men can do no wrong if they show true regret afterwards.