The Castle of Otranto

'The Castle of Otranto' was recognised as the first novel of Gothic Literature. Written by Horace Walpole, the novel was not very well written but did include all the elements of gothic literature that then encouraged other famous novels such as 'Frankenstein' (Mary Shelley - 1818), Dracula (Bram Stoker - 1897), and 'The Turn of the Shrew' (Henry James - 1898) to be written and published. These were elements such as; a haunted castle, the supernatural or inexplainable events, omens/visions and the threat to a woman from a more powerful source. Due to the Victorian era being so controlled and never having faced anything of this type before, Walpole claimed the novel was a translation of work originating from the Naples in 1529 in order to prevent himself from receiving any kind of backlash. However what he didn't expect was how the Victorians took to the feeling of fear and anxiety when faced with the novel, in a world where so much was going on (the french revolution and the introduction of industrial sites leaking black smoke and polluting the air) the gothic novel provided society with a way to express their deepest secrets and fears.

The novel tells the story of Manfred, the prince of Otranto, who is keen to secure the castle for his descendants in the face of a mysterious curse. The novel begins with the death of Manfred’s son, Conrad, who is crushed to death by an enormous helmet on the morning of his wedding to the beautiful princess Isabella. Faced with the extinction of his line, Manfred vows to divorce his wife and marry the terrified Isabella himself.

"The Castle of Otranto blends elements of realist fiction with the supernatural and fantastical, laying down many of the plot devices and character-types that would become typical of the Gothic: secret passages, clanging trapdoors, hidden identities and vulnerable heroines fleeing from men with evil intent. The novel was a success all over Europe, and the poet Thomas Gray commented in a letter to Walpole that it made ‘some of us cry a little, and all in general afraid to go to bed o’nights.’" - http://www.bl.uk/learning/timeline/item126941.html

Information from: The Art of Gothic: Liberty Diversity Depravity - BBC Four