Other editions of book The Castle of Otranto

The Gothic masterwork that revolutionized popular fictionWhen Prince Manfred of Otranto loses his son in a strange and terrifying accident, he fears that an ancient prophecy has come to pass and his family will be stripped of its castle and lands before he can produce a new heir. Desperate to hold on to their power, he decides to divorce his wife and marry Isabella, his son’s betrothed. But Isabella escapes into the gloomy passages beneath the castle, and with the help of a young peasant named Theodore, finds sanctuary in a nearby monastery. Manfred threatens to kill Theodore unless Friar Jerome turns the girl over to him. Only a shocking twist of fate can save Isabella and ensure that the Castle of Otranto falls to its rightful heir. An immediate sensation when it was published pseudonymously in 1764, The Castle of Otranto is widely considered to be the first Gothic novel. Rich with romance, spine-tingling suspense, and supernatural horror, the novel profoundly influenced the works of Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, and Mary Shelley. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

In a faraway medieval realm, Manfred, an arrogant and evil prince, rules with an iron fist. Banishing his wife to the castle dungeon, he confines — and plans to wed — the lovely Isabella, fiancée of his recently deceased son. The prince's plans are foiled, however, when a well-meaning peasant helps the young woman escape through the castle's underground passages. Grisly, supernatural events further aid in fulfilling a prophecy that spells doom for the prince and justice for Isabella's rescuer and rightful heir to the throne.One of the first and greatest of Gothic novels, this thrilling tale ranks among the most influential books in literary history. Serving as the model for plots, characterizations, settings, and tone for hundreds of successors, The Castle of Otranto abounds with colorful scenes, adventure, suspense, and inexplicable phenomena.

In a faraway medieval realm, Manfred, an arrogant and evil prince, rules with an iron fist. Banishing his wife to the castle dungeon, he confines — and plans to wed — the lovely Isabella, fiancée of his recently deceased son. The prince's plans are foiled, however, when a well-meaning peasant helps the young woman escape through the castle's underground passages. Grisly, supernatural events further aid in fulfilling a prophecy that spells doom for the prince and justice for Isabella's rescuer and rightful heir to the throne.One of the first and greatest of Gothic novels, this thrilling tale ranks among the most influential books in literary history. Serving as the model for plots, characterizations, settings, and tone for hundreds of successors, The Castle of Otranto abounds with colorful scenes, adventure, suspense, and inexplicable phenomena.

One of the earliest gothic novels, "The Castle of Otranto" is the story of the Prince of Otranto, who out of concern for carrying on his lineage attempts to marry off his son to a young girl by the name of Isabella. When a tragic accident kills the Prince's son, a series of eerie events are set in motion. "The Castle of Otranto" is a chilling gothic masterpiece that will be enjoyed by any fan of the genre.

This novel is the story of Conrad, son of Manfred of the house of Otranto. This thrilling tale abounds in adventure, suspense, and supernatural occurrences. Crammed with invention, entertainment, terror, and pathos, the novel was an immediate success and Walpole's own favorite among his numerous works. This work initiated a firestorm in this literary genre and was easily one of the most popular novels published in the late 18th and early 19th century.

The Castle of Otranto is a 1764 novel by Horace Walpole. It is generally regarded as the first gothic novel, and it was indeed the first novel to describe itself by that term. Castle is thus generally credited with initiating the Gothic literary genre, one that would become extremely popular in the later 18th century and early 19th century. Thus, Walpole is arguably the forerunner of such authors as Charles Robert Maturin, Ann Radcliffe, Bram Stoker, and Daphne du Maurier.

The Castle of Otranto is a 1764 novel by Horace Walpole. It is generally regarded as the first gothic novel, initiating a literary genre which would become extremely popular in the later 18th and early 19th century, with authors such as Charles Maturin, Ann Radcliffe, Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe and Daphne du Maurier.The Castle of Otranto tells the story of Manfred, lord of the castle, and his family. The book begins on the wedding-day of his sickly son Conrad and princess Isabella. Shortly before the wedding, however, Conrad is crushed to death by a gigantic helmet that falls on him from above. This inexplicable event is particularly ominous in light of an ancient prophecy, "that the castle and lordship of Otranto should pass from the present family, whenever the real owner should be grown too large to inhabit it". Manfred, terrified that Conrad's death signals the beginning of the end for his line, resolves to avert destruction by marrying Isabella himself while divorcing his current wife Hippolita, who he feels has failed to bear him a proper heir.However, as Manfred attempts to marry Isabella, she escapes to a church with the aid of a peasant named Theodore. Manfred orders Theodore's death while talking to the friar Jerome, who ensured Isabella's safety in the church. When Theodore removes his shirt to be killed, Jerome recognizes a marking below his shoulder and identifies Theodore as his own son. Jerome begs for his son's life, but Manfred says Jerome must either give up the princess or his son's life. They are interrupted by a trumpet and the entrance of knights from another kingdom who want to deliver Isabella. This leads the knights and Manfred to race to find Isabella.Theodore, having been locked in a tower by Manfred, is freed by Manfred's daughter Matilda. He races to the underground church and finds Isabella. He hides her in a cave and blocks it to protect her from Manfred and ends up fighting one of the mysterious knights. Theodore badly wounds the knight, who turns out to be Isabella's father, Frederic. With that, they all go up to the castle to work things out. Frederic falls in love with Matilda and he and Manfred begin to make a deal about marrying each other's daughters. Manfred, suspecting that Isabella is meeting Theodore in a tryst in the church, takes a knife into the church, where Matilda is meeting Theodore. Thinking his own daughter is Isabella, he stabs her. Theodore is then revealed to be the true prince of Otranto and Matilda dies, leaving Manfred to repent. Theodore becomes king and eventually marries Isabella because she is the only one who can understand his true sorrow.

The First Gothic Novel "I can forgive injuries, but never benefits". — Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto The Castle of Otranto is believed to be the first gothic novel and essential reading for both fans and scholars of the genre. The story is about Manfred, the lord of the castle, and his family. This Xist Classics edition has been professionally formatted for e-readers with a linked table of contents. This ebook also contains a bonus book club leadership guide and discussion questions. We hope you’ll share this book with your friends, neighbors and colleagues and can’t wait to hear what you have to say about it.

The Castle of Otranto was written in 1764 during Horace Walpole's tenure as MP for King's Lynn. Walpole was fascinated with medieval history, building in 1749 a fake gothic castle, Strawberry Hill House. The initial edition was titled in full The Castle of Otranto, A Story. Translated by William Marshal, Gent. From the Original Italian of Onuphrio Muralto, Canon of the Church of St. Nicholas at Otranto. This first edition purported to be a translation based on a manuscript printed at Naples in 1529 and recently rediscovered in the library of "an ancient Catholic family in the north of England". This "ancient Catholic family" is possibly the Percy family, as Walpole would have known the Duke of Northumberland and his wife Elizabeth Percy, though this is not proven. He employed an archaic style of writing to further reinforce this. The Italian manuscript's story, it was claimed, derived from a story still older, dating back perhaps as far as the Crusades. This Italian manuscript, along with alleged author "Onuphrio Muralto", were Walpole's fictional creations, and "William Marshal" his pseudonym. In the second and subsequent editions, Walpole acknowledges authorship of his work, writing: "The favourable manner in which this little piece has been received by the public, calls upon the author to explain the grounds on which he composed it" as "an attempt to blend the two kinds of romance, the ancient and the modern. In the former all was imagination and improbability: in the latter, nature is always intended to be, and sometimes has been, copied with success...". There was some debate at the time about the function of literature, that is, whether or not works of fiction should be representative of life, or more purely imaginative (i.e. natural vs. romantic). The first edition was well received by some reviewers who understood the novel as belonging to medieval fiction, "between 1095, the era of the First Crusade, and 1243, the date of the last", as the first preface states; and some referred to Walpole as an "ingenious translator". Following Walpole's admission of authorship, however, many critics were loath to lavish much praise on the work and dismissed it as absurd, fluffy, romantic fiction. In his 1924 edition of The Castle of Otranto, Montague Summers showed that the life story of Manfred of Sicily inspired some details of the plot. The real medieval castle of Otranto was among Manfred's possessions.

One fine June morning, the Right Honourable Horace Walpole, fourth Earl of Orford, awoke from a very strange dream in his Gothic mansion of Strawberry Hill. Little did he then realise that as a consequence of that dream he would bring into being an entirely new, exciting form of literature: "the Gothic novel". It was this aristocratic figure, of wildly eccentric and eclectic tastes that was to be become the somewhat unlikely father of Gothic Literature and indeed, the foundation of our modern day love affair with all things Gothic.Horace Walpole wrote The Castle of Otranto in 1764, at the ripe old age of forty-eight. The idea for the story came one night in June of that year, from a dream he had in his Gothic Mansion, Strawberry Hill. He recalled that he awoke one morning from a dream, of which “all I could recover was, that I had thought myself in an ancient castle (a very natural dream for a head like mine, filled with Gothic story), and that on the uppermost banister of a great staircase I saw a gigantic hand in armour. In the evening I sat down and began to write, without knowing in the least what I intended to say or relate.” Otranto has been published in over a hundred different editions and has never been out of print for any length of time. This continues to this day, for the ever renewing succession of readers who wish to experience this remarkable work, the very first instance of the Gothic novel and the birth of the genre that gave us The Mysteries of Udolpho, Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights and Dracula."Pushing open the door gently, he saw a person kneeling before the altar. As he approached nearer, it seemed not a woman, but one in a long woollen weed, whose back was towards him. The person seemed absorbed in prayer. The marquis was about to return, when the figure rising, stood some moments fixed in meditation, without regarding him. The marquis, expecting the holy person to come forth, and meaning to excuse his uncivil interruption, said, Reverend father, I sought the lady Hippolita.— Hippolita! replied a hollow voice: camest thou to this castle to seek Hippolita?— And then the figure, turning slowly round, discovered to Frederic the fleshless jaws and empty sockets of a skeleton, wrapt in a hermit’s cowl". (The Castle of Otranto, Chapter V) Please visit our Amazon page for more great Gothic books http://smarturl.it/Lexido?IQid=COAMLEXIDO CLASSIC EDITIONS series provide high quality single volume editions of selected classic texts. Our objective is to provide the very best reading experience of classic texts for the Ebook reader. As the focus of this edition is on a single book (rather than a collection), a much closer focus and attention to the specific work is possible. Please note that minor revisions to the punctuation of the original text have been made to better suit the taste of contemporary readers. Also, to ensure the best possible enjoyment and ease of understanding whilst reading the book, this edition includes footnotes and reference material.These supporting features are especially important when reading texts from the 18th and 19th century. The LEXIDO edition of Horace Walpole's "The Castle of Otranto" has bee extensively proof read and Quality Assured to ensure that your Ebook is: - Faithful to the text of the original printed edition - Free from spelling, layout defects and omissions - Excellently reproduced on all Kindle Ebook readers - Easy to navigate via a Table of Contents linking to each chapter. This edition includes the following supporting material: - The prefaces for the first and second editions- Footnotes to aid understanding of unfamiliar terms and references - A concise biography of Horace Walpole - A reading list and chronology of classic Gothic Fiction.