The Mysteries of Udolpho
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2009) |
| The Mysteries of Udolpho, A Romance; Interspersed with Some Pieces of Poetry | |
 Title page from first edition. |
|
| Author | Ann Radcliffe |
|---|---|
| Country | England |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Gothic novel |
| Publisher | G. G. and J. Robinson |
| Publication date | 1794 |
| Media type | print (hardcover), 4 volumes |
| ISBN | NA |
The Mysteries of Udolpho, by Ann Radcliffe, was published in the summer of 1794 by G. G. and J. Robinson of London in 4 volumes. Her fourth and most popular novel, The Mysteries of Udolpho follows the fortunes of Emily St. Aubert who suffers, among other misadventures, the death of her father, supernatural terrors in a gloomy castle, and the machinations of an Italian brigand. Often cited as the archetypal Gothic novel, The Mysteries of Udolpho plays a prominent role in Jane Austen's novel Northanger Abbey, in which an impressionable young woman, after reading Radcliffe's novel, comes to see her friends and acquaintances as Gothic villains and victims with amusing results. According to Radcliffe's contract for the book, which is housed at the University of Virginia Library, she was paid £500 for the manuscript.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Plot introduction
The Mysteries of Udolpho is a quintessential Gothic romance, replete with incidents of physical and psychological terror; remote, crumbling castles; seemingly supernatural events; a brooding, scheming villain; and a persecuted heroine. Radcliffe also added extensive descriptions of exotic landscapes in the Pyrenees and Apennines. Set in 1584 in southern France and northern Italy, the novel focuses on the plight of Emily St. Aubert, a young French woman who is orphaned after the death of her father. Emily suffers imprisonment in the castle Udolpho at the hands of Signor Montoni, an Italian brigand who has married her aunt and guardian Madame Cheron. Emily's romance with the dashing Valancourt is frustrated by Montoni and others. Emily also investigates the mysterious relationship between her father and the Marchioness de Villeroi, and its connection to the castle Udolpho.
[edit] Plot summary
Emily St. Aubert is the only child of a landed rural family whose fortunes are now in decline. Emily and her father share an especially close bond, due to their shared appreciation for nature. After her mother's death from a serious illness, Emily and her father grow even closer. She accompanies him on a journey from their native Gascony, through the Pyrenees to the Mediterranean coast of Rousillon, over many mountainous landscapes. During the journey, they encounter Valancourt, a handsome man who also feels an almost mystical kinship with the natural world. Emily and Valancourt quickly fall in love.
Emily's father succumbs to a long illness. Emily, now orphaned, is forced by his wishes to live with her aunt, Madame Cheron, who shares none of Emily's interests and shows little affection. Madame Cheron marries Montoni, who brings them to Udolpho, separating Emily from her suitor Valancourt. Montoni threatens Madame with violence to force her to sign over her properties in Toulouse, which upon her death would otherwise go to Emily. Many frightening but coincidental events happen within the castle, and in the end Emily takes control of her property and is reunited with Valancourt.
[edit] Characters in The Mysteries of Udolpho
Emily St. Aubert: The novel's protagonist. Much of the action takes place from her point of view. She is unusually beautiful and gentle with a slight, graceful figure, fond of books and music. She is described as extremely virtuous, obedient, resourceful, brave, sensitive, and self-reliant.
St. Aubert: Emily's father, who dies early in the novel while he, Emily, and Valancourt are travelling. He warns Emily on his death bed to not become a victim of her feelings but to acquire command over her emotions. His unaccountable relationship with the Marchioness de Villeroi is one of the novel's central mysteries.
Valancourt: The younger brother of the Count Duvarney, Valancourt forms an attachment to Emily while traveling with her and her father through the Pyrenees. He is a dashing young man with a noble character - on furlough from the army when he meets Emily - inclined to enthusiams. St. Aubert considers Valancourt a desirable match for Emily but Valancourt lacks wealth.
Madame Cheron: St. Aubert's sister and Emily's aunt. Madame Cheron is a selfish, worldly, wealthy widow living on her estate near Toulouse when Emily reluctantly becomes her ward after St. Aubert's death.
Montoni: The prototypical Gothic villain. Brooding, haughty, and scheming, he masquerades as an Italian nobleman to gain Madame Cheron's hand in marriage, then imprisons Emily and Madame Cheron in Udolpho in an attempt to acquire control over Madame Cheron's fortune.
Count Morano: Introduced to Emily by Montoni, who commands that she marry Morano. Emily refuses but Morano continues to pursue her in Venice and later Udolpho.
Annette: A maid who accompanied Madame Cheron from France. Annette is inclined to exaggeration and superstition but is faithful and honest.
Ludovico: One of Montoni's servants. He falls in love with Annette and provides assistance to Emily.
Cavigni and Verezzi: Cavaliers and friends of Montoni.
Orsino: An assassin and friend of Montoni.
[edit] References in other works
- The Mysteries of Udolpho plays a small part in Tom Stoppard's play Arcadia, as one of its characters describes a garden as worthy of Udolpho (Faber and Faber edition, page 13).
- Henry James mentions the "mystery of Udolpho" in The Turn of the Screw, at the beginning of Chapter IV: "Was there a 'secret' at Bly — a mystery of Udolpho or an insane, an unmentionable relative kept in unsuspected confinement?"
- The Veiled Picture; or, The Mysteries of Gorgono, published in 1802, is a chapbook edition of The Mysteries of Udolpho. It preserves most of the characters and plot elements from Udolpho but dispenses with details and descriptions.
- There is also a mention of The Mysteries of Udolpho in Herman Melville's Billy Budd, where a vital element in Claggart's and Billy Budd's relationship is "assumed...in its very realism as much charged with that prime element of Radcliffian romance, the mysterious, as any that the ingenuity of the author of The Mysteries of Udolpho could devise."
- Dostoevsky makes a reference to Udolpho in his novel The Brothers Karamazov. Dmitri's defense lawyer Fetyukovich tells the jury that the crime committed was not as one might find in 'The Castle Udolpho', implying that it was firmly based in fact.
- The novel plays a role in C. Northcote Parkinson's The Devil to Pay, set in 1794. In it the young lieutenant who is the hero has been plunged into local intrigue when he accepts the command of a small revenue cutter on the Isle of Wight. The neice of a local landowner rumored to own several smuggling vessels flirts with him, and mentions her enjoyment of Mrs Radcliffe's recent novel. The lieutenant reads it and records his impressions.
- The novel is referenced multiple times in Jane Austen's novel Northanger Abbey.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Webber, Caroline. "The Mysteries of Udolpho". The Literary Encyclopedia. 11 October 2008. Accessed 25 March 2009.
