Literary Analysis Essay on Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole

Introduction

Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole is considered as the first gothic story which has been ever written since it has influenced many poems, novels and other literacy work that came after it was published. The book tells the story of Manfred, who was the evil lord of Otranto, who proposes for marriage for his late son's fiancee, the kind princess Isabella, for him to be able to secure the continuation of his bloodline in the face of the most dangerous and the mysterious curse. The castle of pronto was described as the perfect mix of realistic fiction and supernatural elements (Senf, 2017).

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The Castle of Otranto is a novel written by Horace Walpole and is a story related to the family of Manfred the Prince of Otranto. In his book, he lacked a lot of experience in fiction. The novel turned out to be a big success when it was published for the first and second time in English and Italian, respectively. He managed to use various sub-genres to bring out themes and other literacy skills more effectively and in a transparent way (Pecastaings, 2019). There are multiple themes and writing styles, but in this article, I am only going to discuss the significant issues and the methods used more than once.

Many of Walpole's plot devices and character types generally becomes typical of the gothic literature. These include factors such as hidden identities, secret passageways supernatural forces and virginal damsels in distress all features are prominently used. The castle of Otranto marks the begging of the trend of this type of novels. The novel address the question of marriage, bloodlines and familial bonds. The central and core issues in work.

The story includes many typical themes found in the modern gothic and which enables a precise analysis of the novel. They include love, death, divine being's justice, bravery and revenge by different characters. Despite learning of Manfred's deceit, Frederic is still tempted worldly desires and power to rule.

Manfred's attempts to sway him further shows the gender structure of the marriage a how power is exercised in the patriarchal society. By using his daughter's appearance to tempt Frederic, Manfred appropriates his daughter's body to facilitate an exchange for the power to gain the political rule. Persuaded by Manfred's temptations, Fredric succumbs to his worldly desires, and it is only stopped by the ghost's reminder that Frederic's purpose was not to give Isabella over to Manfred. Still, his mission was to save her from Manfred.

Tyrannical lord of the castle of Otranto, Manfred, is afraid that his son ultimately death marks the beginning of a curse which will later terminate his bloodline. Manfred's decides to divorce and seek to marry another prince. When Isabella refuses, he vows to kill them with Theodore, the man who helps the princes to escape. Manfred is blindfolded by anger and the need to revenge; he has mistaken his daughter Matilda for Isabella and stabs her to death. The realistic fiction in the novel of the supernatural elements makes the book to be more colourful and to display different time events in the Roman analysis.

When castle walls fall only behind, Manfred suggests that his power as a leader has now fallen apart and his existence as a ruler has ended. The appearance of the giant ghost at the ruins signals that Manfred's replacement as ruler of the castle by the heir know as Alfonso. Theodore fulfils the prophecy about whom is to become the rightful owner of the castle as it has increasingly grown (Gjerlevsen, 2016).

The territories of the castle have been inhabited by the citizens. The appearance of the ghost is a common gothic feature, which is worth noting that despite the Frederic's for the power and lust, the presence of the spirit puts him in a new position.

From the beginning, the castle of Otranto embraces the horror of life as the period of the book is set to the Middle Ages. Death is everywhere, and the individual has little chances of survival in a hostile environment. The wedding does not take place, but Cornard is crushed to death by a giant helmet moments before the event starts. Manfred plots to divorce his wife Hippolyta in the blame that she has failed him by not bearing him a proper heir of the throne.

Castles mentioned in the novel is significant. It is evident that Horace Walpole was obsessed with the gothic architecture and wanted to transform his Strawberry Hill into an attractive palace. He decided to write the novel in a time when the castles were being renovated, and he admitted that he liked the Strawberry Hill in the first edition of his work. The story was republished in 1764 through the first edition of the book was released in the 16th century. It, therefore, gave Horace Walpole a chance to comment on his work and note the writing features.

In the first edition of the novel, the castle was very much described especially the sections that were mostly used such as the chamber, the door on the right-hand side, the chapel and Conrad's apartment. It's unusual for an author to add comments about his/her very own work, but this showed that he relies upon had a great love for the Strawberry Hill and also the castle was very much valued by him and his family members. The book was as a result of his obsession with the architecture of the palace.

Just like the authors of Dracula and Frankenstein, Horace makes the theme of maze very evident in the novel. A sense of fear and insecurity is developed in the book when the castle is transformed. Horace criticizes this and makes the reader so scared when the castle becomes a labyrinth. In most of the gothic writings, this theme usually dominates the entire plot of the story. Just like in other Gothic films, the character who is aware of what is going on is less frightened and bothered.

In this novel, Manfred, Matilda and Hyppolita are aware of the troubles in the castles and aren't scared of going to various rooms and dark places inside the castle. Isabella looks worried even though she knows the way out of the castle, she tenses and feels lost inside. Isabella sees the castles as her home, but less does she know what is in there though she feels nervous in one of the secret passages. A feeling of fear is created when Isabella is alone in the dark and unaware of the way.

The lower part of the castle is hollowed into different cloisters and which was not easy for individuals to find much anxiety. When the door was opened from the cavern, there is an awful silence reigned in all the time in the region. In the detailed description, it can be concluded that the castle and the immensity bring a clear picture of the individual in the story of how it was made. The cavern, which is located near the labyrinth about the accurate tale of the Matilda shows the cavern incites, which insights the fear and the anxiety which is portrayed (Mulvey-Roberts, 2016).

Escape of the pure young women is a clear indication of gothic in the novel. Isabella embodies the image of a pure virgin who is used to symbolize innocence while Manfred, who is a typical character in the fiction of Otranto, represents the beast. Who longs the young woman Matilda? After the death of Conard, Manfred says that Isabella cannot be united to his son, she should be only married by a member of the family. Manfred is the typical Gothic villain even though he does not embrace the supernatural being. He plans to divorce his wife, his wife, to marry his daughter in law. Nowadays, this may be considered as a lack of moral values.

The fact that Manfred pursues, Isabella during like the whole story is one of the essential processes of Walpole used to create fear and horror in the novel. It is also related to the unusual nature of the relationship between the Isabella and Manfred. Manfred desires her not only to the solution to his legitimacy problems be also because Isabella is young and beautiful.

These lead to the theme of sexuality which the gothic possesses. However, it so not clear that sex if one of the major stories in the novel. Sex brings uneasiness not only because it is a taboo but also because it is depicted as nasty. The leader feels that Manfred should not be attracted to Isabella because it's her daughter in law.

As also there is something devilish about Manfred passion for her daughter-in-law. This creates uneasiness of the drastic difference between the two characters as Isabella is a virtuous, innocent and young girl, whereas Manfred is brutal sly and rude. Her innocence is omnipresent in the description of the characters.

Isabella and Matilda have similar traits and secrets like beauty and charm. They have secrets which no one discloses to the other. The secret they share in common is their virginity state. When together, they are referred to as a group because they similarly do everything. They usually have the same feeling and attitude towards each other. If Isabella is happy also Matilda is also pleased and if the former frowns then the later shall even frown. In the novel repetition is emphasized to show their characters traits and put more emphasis on doppelganger as a theme. Gothic films use mirrors the author also uses mirrors in the castle to show how horrific it is.

Unlike in the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, Horace doesn't apply the mirror effect so much. In the book, Isabella and Matilda are two different persons but have the same way of doing things. At the end of the story, Manfred mistakes Isabella for Matilda and ends up killing his daughter. Her death brings out the mirror effect. The tale starts with Conrad's death and finalizes with Matilda's death. Matilda's death fulfils a prophecy mentioned in the novel.

Gothic novels are so much fantastique. Supernatural events usually revolve inside the plot of the whole storyline. At the beginning of the book, Manfred's mind is obsessed with the prophecy and looks insane. His mind is so fragile, and the reader may feel what is circulating in his mind (Lindfield, 2017).

An example is when Manfred sees a picture of Alfonso resurrecting, he is the one who sees it even though Isabella hears some voices. Manfred doesn't recognize what he has just seen, and the author tags a song. Manfred's supernatural visions usually become more evident as the story develops and becomes sweeter. The reader now agrees that Manfred is not crazy and psychic things are happening inside the castle. At the end of the novel, everyone agrees that the prophecy and visions are all true and fulfilled.

It is hyperbolical to transform a Strawberry Hill into a Gothic Castle. Horace is obsessed by his desire to change the former to the latter. It is more than a dream to imagine the whole process taking place. Everything in the novel is exaggerated in a particular and different way. The mentioning of the giant is hyperbole and everything related to it. Bianca's feelings are exaggerated when the author says that she cried; this pictured her out as a coward. The sword that belonged to the giant is praised and exaggerated a lot.

The whole description about the giant is an exaggeration and makes the reader question the length, perimeter and height of the castle. A giant cannot fit into a small human house. The author exaggerates the size of the castle because he doesn't mention and instance when the giant destroyed the walls when walking in the corridors of the castle. Theodore is a hyperbolic hero, he is so much exaggerated, but in the real sense, he is an ordinary knight (Miles, 2017).

The reader can clearly show that the novel was dramatized. Active and passive dialogues are evident in the passages. Dramatizing a story makes the reader much relieved by the hyperboles used. This creates a reader feel like he/she seeing or watching the whole experience. Dialogues help the reader remember an incident that occurred in a particular excerpt in the story (Ju...