While you’re free to write about anything in the lengthy passages from Udolpho that you read for today, here are some prompts to get your started thinking:
- What kinds of things does St. Aubert try to teach Emily as she grows up? (You might look especially at the passage in Chapter 1, Volume 1 that includes this phrase: “He endeavoured, therefore, to strengthen her mind”)
- Talk about “bad relatives” in the novel. Where do they appear? What function do they serve? You might also think of this trope in relation to popular fairy tales such as “Snow White” or “Cinderella”
- Consider Italy and the Italian background in the middle of the novel. How does Radcliffe present Italy and Italians? We have not only Montoni, Count Morano, and the many Signori and armed men at the Castle of Udolpho, but you might remember that Mme. Quesnel (wife of Emily’s uncle, M. Quesnel) is also said to be Italian. What does Italy seem to signify to Radcliffe? Are there differences in the nature descriptions of France, where the St. Auberts initially reside, and Italy?
- What do you think about Radcliffe’s depiction of the lower classes in the novel (peasants, gypsies, banditti, servants, etc.) You might especially consider Annette and Ludovico.
- Discuss the Castle of Udolpho itself. Why do you think the Gothic form presents so many decaying castles, abbeys, etc.? We’ve talked a bit about these buildings as supplying domestic spaces for female adventure, but some critics see labyrinthine passages and prisons as tied to nightmares and deep, Freudian-style fears and desires of the unconscious mind. What are your thoughts, observations, about the castle itself and what it represents?
In chapter 1 of The Mysteries of Udolpho St. Aubert is really trying to teach her to think with her head instead of her heart. Emily is said to me sensible and kind, which can be a good thing, but I’m sure St. Aubert knows that this will lead Emily into getting taken advantage of. Later on this happens when Emily is forced in and out of engagements, taken to a new castle, and tricked into signing papers. Bad relatives really start to kick in within these chapters, and it really starts feeling like a typical female gothic book. Her aunt is a typical evil character, taking Emily and being the one forcing her into marriages. Most inner city people are considered, by the book’s standards, corrupted and rude. Peasants like Annette are presented as foolish, and used as comic relief. But being in the countryside makes you more kind, and humble. Both areas are also written very differently aesthetic wise. In the beginning of the novel Emily was in such a beautiful and bright countryside where it is relatively safe. However the castle is depicted as gloomy, dark, and haunting. It is hard to picture the castle and not think of night time.
I think its interesting to look at the castle in a way of freedom for Emily, but it’s especially intriguing to view it as her fears and a representation of her emotions. Emily is put through many stressful situations and dealt with lots of negative interactions with her relatives throughout the beginning chapters, and the decaying structures and dark hallways could be a manifestation of her true feelings. Although Emily is free to roam the castle at times, I also think that the dark scenery can represent the Gothic’s tendency to have negative outcomes after a woman attempts to be free. It could be used in an argument saying women deserve punishment when they act on their own. There are many ways to approach and explain the reason for the castle being so dark. Each possible reason follows a trait of the Gothic and the reason behind the scenery is so thought-provoking because there is no correct answer.
While reading I immediately took notice of the difference between the way Radcliffe chooses to describe France, as opposed to the way she described Italy. In the first chapters of the book she sets the scene of Gascony, with beautiful description and imagery, but as soon as Emily must leave France, the book takes a different tone. For example, as Emily is driving to Udolpho, Radcliffe describes the surroundings to have “savage features” and says the castle is a “wild, lonely place”. This descriptions are very different, from the in-depth descriptions of sublime and beauty that she used for the cottage Emily shared with her parents in Gascony. I think that the change in tone and setting signals the change in Emily, now that she is orphaned.
Radcliffe presents Italians and Italy as a corrupt and dreary place compared to France. The French countryside is regarded as beautiful, simple, and sublime. France is considered a place of simplicity and, especially for St. Aubert, a home of domestic virtues. France, in the text, is worshipped for its beautiful scenes. Contrasting this, Italy is considered almost the opposite of the French countryside. Immediately, as soon as Emily arrives in Venice, she describes it as a gloomy place. The castle, Udolpho, itself is surrounded by a dark forest and is dimly lit. The people, as well, in Italy are unpleasant. Madame Montoni and Montoni are horrible to Emily and treat her badly. This characterizes Italy and its inhabitants as a dishonorable and unwelcoming. This reflects back on how Radcliffe often praises the simple, virtuous, and domestic. Radcliffe often condemns cities and the things that surround them as immoral and disagreeable.
I think that it is hard to use the castle in The Mysteries of Udolpho as an example of using a domestic space for female adventure when a lot of what we first read was Emily going on actual adventures. While not un-chaperoned, they were still adventures. She got to travel and experience things abroad. I agree with the critics in this case. I think that the castle in The Mysteries of Udolpho does more represent the nightmares or troublesome thoughts that must be running through Emily’s head at the point in the book. The adventures that she first experienced at the beginning of the book did not come without betrayal or loss. I think rather this is a representation of Emily’s mental well-being. However, I do think that the castle could also be seen as a sort of consequence for the aforementioned exploration that Emily partook in outside of the castle and now she has to pay the consequences of her experiences outside.
In regards to the castle of Udolpho, I think writers of the Gothic have used imagery of dark and decaying structures/locations in their stories to represent the mystery and unknown that women who live “boring” lives are intrigued by, but also to forewarn them of the consequences of their exploration. In class we discussed how a lot of Gothic books where the female protagonist explores ideas outside of the life she’s used to, most of the time she will end up right back where she began or will suffer some other outcome. I think the castle in Udolpho represents the unknown parts of Emily’s family history and the tales behind this castle and how it came into her and her family’s lives. In chapter 5 of vol. 2, we get this imagery of a picture hanging in the castle that is veiled with black silk, when Emily asks Annette to see the photo, and Annette denies. Also, after Annette tells Emily the story of how the castle ended up in Montoni’s possession, I think that leads Emily’s curiosity astray. Emily wants to know more and more about her family’s past and what else the castle is hiding without knowing, what I assume, will be the severity of it.
The contrasting descriptions of France and Italy throughout the novel seem to be a reflection of how Radcliffe herself views the two countries. Beginning in France, the Auberts enjoyed a fulfilling and comfortable life, the scenes of France were described as of sublime beauty and overall the scenes were described in a positive way. This greatly differs from the scenes described during Emily’s travels throughout Italy, leading up to her arrival at Udolpho. The route by which they are traveling is clothed with pine trees which occasionally open up to barren cliffs of jagged rock, at one point a pasture is spotted which brought delight amongst “surrounding horror”. Radcliffe sets the scenes of Italy as dark and dismal, along with the Italian characters being suspicious and deceitful. Montoni and Morano are not very agreeable characters whose backgrounds and intentions are not fully understood, contributing to a sense of mistrust and superficiality amongst the Italians. These characterizations and descriptions of nature may reflect Radcliffe’s views of Italy. For her Italy seems to signify mystery and deceit, a place where people can not be trusted and their secrets can remain concealed within the unwelcoming scenery. Radcliffe’s descriptions of Italy and the Italian characters make it a perfect place for a gothic novel to be set, and for Emily’s adventures within Udolpho to unfold.
It can be easily argued that the entirety of Emily’s troubles are a result of the poor treatment of her from her relatives. While it goes without saying that Count Montoni is the source of many of the hardships our heroine is forced to endure, Madame Montoni—Emily’s own flesh and blood—does not offer her niece any respite from the poor treatment, either. She is cold towards the protagonist and all but indifferent to the struggles inflicted upon her by the Count (the very man Madame Montoni chose to impose on both of the women through marrying him). It was upsetting to see her so unsupportive, so I was relieved to see her finally stand up to Count Montoni when it came to her property and Emily’s inheritance of it.
Which brings me to my next point: while the concept of “bad relatives” is undoubtedly present in The Mysteries of Udolpho, I also wanted to discuss the contrasting element of Emily’s situation: supportive, chosen family. Emily is not without a support system in the story; Annette is an undeniably essential character, and the relationship between the two girls was very sweet to me. I found their banter refreshing and funny, and I believe it’s safe to say that it wouldn’t have been possible for Emily to come as far as she had without her friend, be that emotionally or physically. While Annette is not Emily’s relative by blood or marriage (and despite the obvious class issues in the story), I like to believe the two see each other as companions—and from my perspective, chosen family is far more important than a few “bad relatives.”
Bad relatives are family members connected either by blood or in another way that are not understanding of another’s life. This can usually involve not respecting boundaries along with other behaviors that are not acceptable in modern society. Within the text, Count Montoni appears as a bad relative. He has tried to force his wife (Emily’s aunt) into signing away all her property that she owns. This is problematic as Emily is the one who is set to inherit these assets in the future. The function of this trope is usually occurring when the main character is an orphan and is solely dependent on the relative for care and a place to live. This is seen within the Mysteries of Udolpho as Emily’s only family was her aunt before she died. In other forms of this trope, the relative will use the orphan for something they desire, abusing their power within the relationship. Eventually this leads to bad things such as fighting, emotional harm, and even death.
In Udolpho, Madame Montoni and Count Montoni seem to act as surrogate parents or adoptive parents to Emily, in this respect Madame Montoni mirrors the Evil Queen in the classic story tale in Snow White and Lady Tremaine from Cinderellam and off the top of my head, Montoni mirrors Rothbart from Swan Lake, and as the antagonist Montoni helps to produce the issues that Emily confronts as the central protagonist of the novel. While these characters aren’t the immediate relatives of Emily (the Count only through marriage) they can be considered as “bad relatives” towards Emily. As for function within the story both Madame Montoni and Count Montoni push Emily to encounter situations which produce fear and dread—Montoni’s castle Udolpho and his intentions as the purveyor of these feelings. Additionally, Madame Montoni may not be a traditional antagonist, she certainly isn’t the central antagonist, she marries Montoni (which provides the novel with it’s foremost conflict), and treats Emily with a cold heart and dismissive attitude which helps with Emily’s increasing feeling of helplessness.
I was shocked in volume 3 that before/after Madame Montoni died, he was a little nicer to Emily, I have no idea why but, before she died when Emily wanted to see her aunt she tried and tried to get access to Montoni for days on end and to make a meeting so she can see her aunt. She eventually got a meeting with him and was able see her aunt but before she did that, she wanted to make sure her aunt was alive, so she asked him, and he said she was alive and well. When Emily went to actually go see her aunt she was not well and was dying and was thankful she got to see her before she died. But after Madame Montoni died Montoni still had not been able to make her sign the property pages, so the property went to Emily. After she died though he was also nice enough to bring a friar in to help with the ceremony of his past wife Madame Montoni. In volume 3 chapter 6, Montoni sends Emily away because there will be a battle happening very soon at the castle and Emily is send to Tuscany. I want to know why he cared a little to send her away for the battle and not do what he did to his wife and to get the property?