With regard to The Castle of Ortranto: A Gothic
Story, and the Gothic horror genre:
Gothic fiction (sometimes referred to as Gothic
horror) is a genre of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. As a
genre, it is generally believed to have been invented by the English author Horace
Walpole, with his 1764 novel The Castle of
Otranto...
It is generally regarded as the
first gothic novel, initiating a literary genre which would become extremely popular in
the later 18th century and early 19th
century.
It
was presented as a translation from
the Italian, believed to be based on an earlier version from the 1500s, which was said
to have been based on an even earlier story dating to the Crusades
(details which were all created by Walpole).
The novel
predates other Gothic horror writers that would follow, such as Bram Stoker
(Dracula) and Mary Shelley (Frankenstein).
Romantic writers also contributed to this genre with works such as Coleridge's
The Rime of an Ancient Mariner.
There
are many characteristics of Gothic horror (or fiction). Generally speaking (among
others), look for:
- a remote, foreign or
mysterious location (often in a castle) - elements of the
supernatural (ghosts, hauntings, etc.) - a tormented
protagonist and/or a damsel in distress (i.e., Jane
Eyre)
Based on a summary of the plot, the
elements that support the story as a Gothic piece of literature include a possible
hereditary curse against the Otranto family (the supernatural), the setting in a remote
location (castle), as well as a tormented antagonist (Manfred) and a damsel in distress
(Isabella). As with other stories of this kind, there was also death (when Manfred loses
his son at the beginning, and later when he kills Matilda by
accident).
Based upon the plot developments of the story
and the elements of the Gothic horror genre, The Castle of Otranto
is an example of Gothic fiction.
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