--page numbers, Collier/Penguin (Three Gothic Novels) editions

1. What is the purpose of the preface to the first edition? Why did Walpole then choose to write a second preface later? Is the purpose and function of the second preface the same as that of the first? If not, what is different?

2. Does Walpole attempt to lend his novel a sense of realism? Does the author betray himself in any was by referring to the novel, in the second preface, as a "romance" (p. 19/43)? Or is the word "romance" used for some particular purpose?

3. Who is the protagonist? Who is the "hero"? Is there a hero in the usual sense?

4. Are the characters round or flat? Credible or not? Work out brief character sketches of the main characters, including observations about their psychological constitutions.

5. Does the novel have any controlling principle, any moral, intellectual, or philosophical theme?
--Is it sufficient for Walpole to say, in the assumed role of editor, that the novel's moral is "the sins of the fathers are visited on their children" (p. 16/41)?
--Was the novel written, then, merely to expand and expound upon this moral?

6. Why did Walpole write the novel anyway? What's his point? What was he trying to accomplish?

7. How does The Castle of Otranto appear to relate to "sentiment" and sentimental writing? What devices are employed to generate emotions of pity and terror (and/or others) in the audience? List some examples.

8. Is the novel best regarded as melodrama? Provide some vidence pro or con.

9. What are we to make of the conclusion? Is it all too neat, too formulaic, too convenient? What is the actual relationship of Theodore and Isabella at the end? Do they marry?

10. What is the point of all the twists, turns, and revelations in both plot and characters? How important are surprise and suspense to this sort of fiction?

11. What is the purpose of this novel (and others like it)? How does the Gothic novel generally seem to relate to the development of the English novel?

12. In 1754 the English philosopher and Whig politician Edmund Burke published A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful. See what you can find out about Burke's views especially of what the "Sublime" is all about, and consider whether any of those ideas may be related both to The Castle of Otranto and to Gothic fiction in general.

Painting of Horace Walpole by Rosalba Carriera, 1741.

Some Internet Resources

A modern view of Strawberry Hill, at Twickenham. Horace Walpole's famous Gothic creation with later additions by the Waldegrave family. The house is one of the most fascinating in the area and is probably the best example of an early Gothic Revival building in the country. This building is "part church, a castle, a convent or a monastery." Here is another view.

Here is a period view of Strawberry Hill, painted in the late 1750s, by Johann Heinrich Müntz (1717-1798).

A general portal page to Horace Walpole, with links forThe Castle of Otranto (including electronic texts)a and other works by Walpole, biographical links, and information about Walpole's fantastic residence, Strawberry Hill,in Twickenham.

Gothic Literature (AOL) -- "The Gothic Literature Page is devoted to study of Gothic Literature which flourished in England from 1764 to 1834. This site is intended to provide students and scholars of the Gothic novel access to the growing number of resources available on the web. An introduction to the Gothic novel, collected summaries, papers, critical and bibliographical information and related sites are assembled together to expedite research." Newly reorganized. A good place to start.

The Literary Gothic Page -- "A Web site for all things concerned with literary Gothicism, which includes ghost stories, 'classic' Gothic fiction (1764-1820), and related Gothic, supernaturalist, and 'weird' literature prior to the mid-twentieth century." Includes links to other Gothic sites, reviews of books on the Gothic, and a great many links to E-texts. Extensive, but not always scholarly.

The title page of The Castle of Otranto (1764).

Stephen C. Behrendt, 7/26/03