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«The Castle of Otranto»
Horace Walpole
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Transcript

start

«The Castle of Otranto»

Horace Walpole

9. Thanks

8. My opinion

7. Means of literature

6. Topic, problem, idea

5. The plot

4. Description of characters

3. The main characters

2. Where and when

1. About the author

contents

Where and when

The main events take place in the castle of Otranto and its surroundings in medieval Italy, at the turn of the XII-XIII centuries.

About the author

Horace Walpole, in full Horace Walpole, 4th earl of Orford, original name Horatio Walpole, (born September 24, 1717, London, England—died March 2, 1797, London), English writer, connoisseur, and collector known for his novel The Castle of Otranto (1764), the first Gothic novel in the English language and one of the earliest literary horror stories. He was perhaps the most assiduous letter writer of his era, and he built Strawberry Hill, a Gothic Revival.

the main characters

Manfred – the lord of the Castle of Otranto. Hipolita – the wife of Manfred and the mother of Conrad and Matilda. Isabella – the daughter of Frederic and the fiancee of Conrad (at the beginning of the novel).

DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERS

MANFRED"This presence of mind, joined to the frankness of the youth, staggered Manfred. He even felt a disposition towards pardoning one who had been guilty of no crime. Manfred was not one of those savage tyrants who wanton in cruelty unprovoked. The circumstances of his fortune had given an asperity to his temper, which was naturally humane; and his virtues were always ready to operate, when his passions did not obscure his reason".

Frederic – the long-lost father of Isabella who appears late into the novel. Bianca – the servant of Matilda.

Conrad – the fifteen-year-old son of Manfred and Hippolita and the younger brother of Matilda. Matilda – Matilda is the daughter of Hippolita and the oppressive Manfred. Theodore - the most important secret of the story, so i can't tell you.Friar Jerome – the friar at the monastery near the Castle of Otranto.

HIPOLITA"Willing, however, to save her Lord from any additional shock, and prepared by a series of grieves not to tremble at any accession to it, she determined to make herself the first sacrifice, if fate had marked the present hour for their destruction. Dismissing the reluctant Matilda to her rest, who in vain sued for leave to accompany her mother, and attended only by her chaplain, Hippolita had visited the gallery and great chamber; and now with more serenity of soul than she had felt for many hours, she met her Lord, and assured him that the vision of the gigantic leg and foot was all a fable; and no doubt an impression made by fear, and the dark and dismal hour of the night, on the minds of his servants. She and the chaplain had examined the chamber, and found everything in the usual order."
  • The idea of "fate" and predictions, it acquires the character of just moral retribution.
  • The issue (problem) is the question "Will everyone get what they deserve?"
  • The topic of crime and punishment, the confrontation of man and his fate is one of the central themes of the "Castle of Otranto", since a curse weighs on the family of the protagonist Manfred.

Topic, problem, idea

The plot

The plot is built around a secret crime committed in the past, which is gradually revealed towards the end of the action.The Castle of Otranto tells the story of Manfred, lord of the castle, and his family.

The owner of the castle of Otranto, the cruel feudal lord Manfred, is the son of a villain who poisoned his rival Alfonso in order to seize his property and power. A prophecy hangs over Manfred's family that the family council will own the castle until its rightful owner grows so much that it no longer fits into the building. According to the same prediction, the castle belongs to the heirs of Manfred only through the male line.Manfred is going to marry his son to the beautiful Isabella, but on the eve of the wedding of the suitors, he is killed under mysterious circumstances. Then Manfred decides to divorce his wife and marry Isabella, in order to have an heir.

But the girl escapes from him with the help of the peasant Teodoro, who is surprisingly similar to the portrait of the rightful owner of the castle, Alfonso. Manfred is suspected Theodor of death his son and imprisoned him, but Manfred's daughter, Matilda, arranges for Theodor to escape. <...>Learning that Teodoro is to meet at the grave of Alfonso with some woman and suspecting that it will be Isabella, Manfred comes to the meeting place and kills a mysterious stranger at night, who turns out to be his own daughter Matilda. A prediction happens: at the sight of the murdered Alfonso, who lived in the castle, he grows to such a height that he collapses the vaults of the building. Manfred confesses his ancestor's crime and the possibility of sins. The castle was assembled to Teodoro, who, as we know, is the rightful heir.

THe plot

The artistic means of creating images in the novel, thanks to which Horace Walpole maintained the general atmosphere of fear and mystery, are as follows: descriptions of the time of day, scene, landscape, and the presence of supernatural forces.So one example of the interaction of heroes with otherworldly forces in the picture is a scene with a revived portrait of grandfather Manfred, who led him along: "At that instant the portrait of his grandfather, which hung over the bench where they had been sitting, uttered a deep sigh, and heaved its breast. Isabella, whose back was turned to the picture, saw not the motion, nor knew whence the sound came, but started, and said - "Hark, my Lord! What sound was that?" and at the same time made towards the door. Manfred, distracted between the flight of Isabella, who had now reached the stairs, and yet unable to keep his eyes from the picture, which began to move, had, however, advanced some steps after her, still looking backwards on the portrait, when he saw it quit its panel, and descend on the floor with a grave and melancholy air."

MEANS OF LITERARURE

I really liked this novel. I sincerely empathized with the main female characters of the work and looked forward to the finale of the story.

My opinion

thank you for your attention!

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