Remember: For blog posts, you may reply to one of the prompts I post (see below), but you may also reply to another student’s post or to anything in the work that interests you.
Also: remember that blog posts should be at least 150 words to receive credit and they are due by 11:00 a.m. on the day we’re discussing the material in class.
Prompts:
- Discuss your impression of the opening of The Mysteries of Udolpho. How do you react to the first 4 chapters? Do you like the book, not like the book? What did you notice about it thematically? Does Ann Radcliffe seem to have particular obsessions? What’s interesting to you about this opening? Was it what you might have expected of a 1790’s Gothic novel or it was surprising to you?
- Discuss something from one of the critical background essays that either struck you or interested you.
At first reading of The Mysteries of Udolpho I honestly did not love it. While reading the passages I would have to go back to re-read some of the paragraphs to figure out what was happening. It was odd because the individual stories made sense, but the whole thing put together tended to lose me. For example, Emily was talking about her bracelet and how it was missing, then the story cut to people coming over and talking about France. Even Though there was a transition between the two, I just did not like how Emily’s stories were just left. It felt like everything was moving really fast, and they were trying to fit a bunch of information in. Thematically I noticed that nature had so much to do with the visualization of the story. The detail in which the author would write about the setting made it easier to see where the story was based. Since the gothic style is very situationally based, like a character’s financial situation, or family, it made sense that the visualization of nature/ the characters’ surroundings would be detailed.
I actually really enjoyed reading the first four chapters of the Mysteries of Udolpho. I was quite confused at first because the beginning did not seem to have many characteristics of a typical gothic novel, it was describing beautiful scenes of nature and a close knit family who lived in a quaint chateau. But, as I kept reading the gothic plot became more evident and provides a good set up for more gothic features. One feature that really stood out to me was the death of Madame St. Aubert, an absent mother is a prevalent trope in gothic literature so that drew my attention in. I was also very intrigued when Emily saw her dad holding a portrait of a woman who is not her mother, it was not explained in the moment but I wonder if it will be explained as the novel goes on. As they embark on their journey they set fourth with the intent of recovering from the recently past traumatic events, but the tumultuous journey is proving to only be the beginning. I would like to read more of this novel and see what ends up happening to Emily, I did not find the first four chapters very difficult to read so I enjoyed it a lot.
After reading the first few chapters of The Mysteries of Udolpho, I found that the most striking part of Radcliffe’s writing is her imagery of the story’s landscapes. Although she describes the environment in such detail that it can be a bit tiresome to go through the long paragraphs, Radcliffe’s imagery is beautiful and makes the tone of the story much lighter and whimsical than expected from a gothic novel. I have currently only finished the first three chapters and the light tone is making me quite anxious for what is to come. So far, I am really enjoying the story and cannot wait to see what situations will come about on Emily and her father’s journey. The way Radcliffe end the chapters leaves you hanging and pushes you to read further. For example, it was quite surprising at the end of chapter two, when Emily catches her father crying over letters and a portrait of a woman that was not her mother, because the author makes the reader believe that St. Aubert is completely devoted to his wife. A notable theme in the story is one’s perception of wealth. Mons. Quesnel thinks of wealth as living luxuriously, with expensive possessions, frequent trips to foreign countries, and reputation. St. Aubert, however, seems to perceive wealth as finding true happiness in nature and in the company of his family. The only issues I had with the story was Radcliffe’s writing style. As this book was written in the 1790s, it is understandable that the English used then was very different then in modern times, an as I have experience reading period novels, it was only a few paragraphs in that I adapt to and understand the writing. However, what really bothers me is how the author uses the word “nor”. “Nor” is usually used as a conjunction after a negative term, such as “neither” or “no”, however she instead uses it as a substitution or the word “or”. I may just not be used to this phrasing, but every time it comes about it confuses me. Despite my personal pet peeve, I am very excited to explore this story even further.
The opening of The Mysteries of Udolpho establishes the mother’s death as exposition, drawn out long across the entire first chapter, which I enjoyed, even if I found it to be a tad tedious and convoluted. Reading further, it seems Radcliffe enjoys ending her chapters with a bit of a twist, or intrigue, that catches the reader and presses them to read on, or at least for me I found myself engaged enough to want to read the next chapter. I am enjoying the book so far, even if the long sentences can be hard to read, I enjoy the prose. I was shocked to read such vibrant and colorful imagery and descriptions of the landscapes, but I think it adds to the beauty of the novel, makes us fall in love with everything we read, even as we know there are things that may not be what they seem. I’m excited to continue reading excerpts of it, and may want to read the book on my own in the future.
While reading the first four chapters of The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe I was taken by surprise a bit by the tone of the piece. I was expecting it to have a darker aesthetic than it did. While it did have its dark moments the parts that stood out the most to me were the descriptions of the landscape and nature that brightened up the tone. It seemed to me that Radcliffe had an obsession with the idea that the human experience is enriched by nature and ideas of the sublime. Another theme that stood out to me in the first four chapters was the theme of morality and how it can be corrupted by wealth and greed. I did thoroughly enjoy all that I read of The Mysteries of Udolpho and I was surprised at how enjoyable it was to read since it was written in 1794.
From the backgrounds written by Moers and Milbank, I was interested to learn more about the main characters within the writings in the female gothic genre. It was stated that the man is commonly an aggressor, meaning that the heroine is often preyed upon from early childhood. The setting of most of these pieces of fiction take place within the domestic setting, such as that of a house or home environment where it is assumed that there is safety. However, to the heroine the place they reside can also become a prison.
Additionally, while reading The Mysteries of Udolpho, I was surprised by how detailed the author described the setting. While opening the first chapter, there is great telling of the world around the characters, particularly when describing the house and surrounding property. I enjoyed reading the first few chapters, however, it was slightly confusing because it would switch from descriptions to thoughts of the characters without notice. Things also moved rather fast within the first chapter, especially seen from the time when the wife becomes animated to then suddenly flipping and passing away due to illness. This was remedied by the expression of the heroines emotions in the next chapter where it focuses on what has happened and her response to the death of an important family figure.
Something that was mentioned in both critical background essays that I found particularly interesting was that the villains in gothic stories were almost, if not always, a man in a position of power over the female protagonist (ex. a cruel father figure). It’s an extremely common concept in gothic literature written by women, but I still find it intriguing to see that women were writing about the resentment and repressed anger they held towards the male figures in their lives in a fictional format, since women’s rights were so limited at the time and they were incapable of even talking back to their fathers or husbands without facing any consequences. The male characters in female-written stories often carry the same traits of being powerful, charming, successful, etc., but in time become heinous and evil towards the young and demure protagonist. We can correlate this to the relationships women had with men at the time (and possibly some now), where the man puts up a positive front on the outside, but is a nightmare behind closed doors.
I also found this interesting throughout reading the articles. Many female authors of this time period wrote about men in a negative manner (which says a lot). Writing was a way for women to express their true feelings about the men in their lives, and was also a type of escape. Female novels from this time give us a glimpse into societies standards during this period. Women were expected to stay home and be mothers, while men tired their best to control them. Jane Eyre is a prime example of women’s hidden rage and rebellion against the males of society. The female gothic also was a way for women to express their sexuality and desires, which women during the time were criticized for being open about. Not only is it interesting to see how women of the Gothic period wrote about men, but its thought provoking to compare and contrast societies standards on women back then all the way to now.
Something that really interested me about one of the background essays was that the gothic genre was created almost entirely by and for women, and more importantly the importance of the genre for women in the romantic time period. I found it interesting that in both essays, the authors describe how gothic literature was used primarily as a form of freedom, exploration and adventure for women, and even that they used these writings to express their repressed sexuality. After reading these essays and learning how important the gothic genre was for female expression and education, it makes me think about how the genre may have contributed to the idea of feminism and womens’ rights, because through these novels women were finally able to see themselves in adventurous and even more powerful positions than the novels written by men. This is especially significant when I start to consider Shelley’s Frankenstein as a woman’s novel more than just an important gothic classic, and the first ever science fiction novel to be written, and I’m very excited to be able to analyze it as well as a few of the other novels we’ll be reading in that different frame of thinking.
In response to the critical articles, what stood out to me was propriety’s role in Mrs. Radcliffe’s writing. Throughout the 18th century and 19th century, propriety, which is essentially societal expectations were largely expectations for women. The article states that to maintain her society’s standards or, in other words, proprieties, Radcliffe kept her female heroines indoors. This is because, at the time, it was expected for women to stay home. As their job was to raise the children, and tend to home while the husband provided, therefore, the home was considered a female space. Jane Austin, who took inspiration from Mrs. Radcliffe’s writing, often mocks the idea of propriety. Furthermore, I found it interesting the importance of this genre for women of the 18th century and 19th century. The article labels Radcliffe’s works as a puberty rite, which empowered young women through a fictional character who more resembled themselves rather than the typical heroine who was often betrayed as a man. Therefore, it would not be far-fetched to say that Radcliffes’s writing helped limit the properties set on women.