The Castle of Otranto

Summary

The Castle of Otranto, published in 1764, is considered the first Gothic novel. Horace Walpole first presented it as a translation of an Italian manuscript printed in Naples in 1529, supposedly discovered in an old Catholic family library in the north of England; in the second edition he admitted his authorship and explained that he had tried to blend ancient romance, with its marvels, and modern fiction, with its natural characters. The story takes place in the castle of Otranto in southern Italy in the age of the Crusades. Manfred, the prince, is anxious to marry his sickly son Conrad to Isabella, daughter of the Marquis of Vicenza, because an ancient prophecy has declared that the castle shall pass from the present family whenever the real owner grows too large to inhabit it. On the wedding day Conrad is crushed to death by an enormous helmet that falls from the sky, a huge copy of the helmet on the statue of Alfonso the Good, a former prince. Desperate to secure an heir, Manfred decides to divorce his virtuous wife Hippolita and marry Isabella himself. Isabella flees through underground passages and is helped by Theodore, a young peasant who resembles the statue of Alfonso. A series of marvels follows: a portrait sighs and walks, a giant armored foot and hand appear, a statue's nose bleeds, and a mysterious knight arrives with a gigantic sword. Father Jerome, a friar, turns out to be Theodore's father, the Count of Falconara. Manfred, mistaking his own daughter Matilda for Isabella in the dark, stabs her in the church, and she dies. The walls of the castle collapse, the enormous figure of Alfonso appears and declares Theodore the true heir, and Manfred confesses that his grandfather usurped the throne by poisoning Alfonso. Manfred and Hippolita retire to convents, and Theodore marries Isabella. Brief and melodramatic, the novel founded a genre that leads to Mary Shelley, Poe and Bram Stoker.

Plot or Argument

• The helmet

  Conrad is killed by a giant helmet on his wedding day.

• Manfred's plan

  Manfred seeks to marry Isabella; she escapes with Theodore's help.

• Marvels

  Portraits, giant limbs and a mysterious knight reveal the castle's secret.

• Restoration

  Matilda dies; Alfonso's ghost proclaims Theodore the true heir.

Characters

• Manfred, prince of Otranto

  A tyrant desperate to keep his throne.

• Hippolita, Manfred's wife

  A pious and obedient princess.

• Matilda, Manfred's daughter

  A gentle young woman in love with Theodore.

• Isabella, Conrad's fiancée

  A brave young woman who flees Manfred.

• Theodore, peasant hero

  A young man who proves to be the true heir.

• Father Jerome, friar

  A friar who is Theodore's father.

Lessons

• The birth of the Gothic

  Walpole created a genre of castles, ghosts and terror.

  • What Gothic elements appear?
  • Why does the novel begin with a giant helmet?
  • How did later writers use these elements?

• Sins of the fathers

  Manfred suffers for his grandfather's crime.

  • What was the original crime?
  • How does guilt pass down generations?
  • Is Manfred wholly to blame?

• Tyranny

  Manfred's ambition to keep his usurped title destroys his family.

  • How does Manfred treat his wife and daughter?
  • What does he want most?
  • How is order restored?

Context

In the mid-18th century, readers grew interested in the medieval past, ruins and the sublime; Walpole built Strawberry Hill, a Gothic-style house.

Composition

Walpole wrote the novel quickly in 1764 after a dream of a giant armored hand; the first edition claimed to be a translation by 'William Marshal'.

Reception

It was a popular success and inspired the Gothic novels of Clara Reeve, Ann Radcliffe and many others.

Comparisons

• Frankenstein

  Mary Shelley's Gothic novel, a descendant of Otranto.

• Northanger Abbey

  Jane Austen's parody of Gothic fiction.

Quotes

For Students

A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.

Reading Guide

Watch for

• The falling helmet in Chapter I.
• Isabella's flight through the vaults.
• The walking portrait.
• The death of Matilda.
• The final apparition of Alfonso.

Key terms and names

Gothic novel

A novel of mystery, terror and the supernatural, often set in castles.

Usurper

One who seizes power without right.

Prophecy

A prediction of the future, often from a divine source.

Sublime

A feeling of awe and terror before something vast.

Seminar Questions

1. Comprehension How does Conrad die?
2. Comprehension Why does Manfred want to marry Isabella?
3. Comprehension Who is Theodore, and whom does he resemble?
4. Interpretation What does the prophecy mean?
5. Interpretation Why does Matilda die?
6. Big Question Can guilt be inherited?

Faith Connections

• Exodus 20:5 (Scripture)

  Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children.

• Proverbs 16:18 (Scripture)

  Walpole builds his whole plot on the proverb. Manfred clings to a usurped lordship against the prophecy, seeks to divorce Hippolita and marry Isabella, and in his rage stabs his own daughter Matilda before the giant form of Alfonso shatters the castle.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: Power gained by crime cannot endure; Providence, through marvels, restores the rightful heir.

Rhetorical device: false preface. The first edition presents the novel as a translation of an old Italian manuscript.

Debate: Resolved: that The Castle of Otranto is more comic than frightening to modern readers.

Memory Work

he beheld his child dashed to pieces, and almost buried under an enormous helmet, an hundred times more large than any casque ever made for human being

Writing Prompts

Essay: How does Walpole's novel set the pattern for later Gothic fiction?

Comparison with Frankenstein: Compare Otranto's supernatural terror with Frankenstein's.

Creative Prompts

• Fiction

  Write the opening of a Gothic tale set in a building you know.

• Essay

  How does Walpole combine the supernatural with ordinary human motives?

• Classroom

  List the Gothic elements in the novel and find each in a later Gothic work.

Further Reading

• The Mysteries of Udolpho, Ann Radcliffe