Grief is a common theme throughout Gothic literature, however the way that the characters handle grief within Castle of Otranto seems different than other Gothic literature that I have experienced. Rather than dealing with
grief outright, all characters within the story mask their grief at one point
or another. After Conrad’s death, Manfred
does not mourn, but instead his grief is manifested through his desire for
another heir. Rather than lay his son to
rest in a proper burial, Manfred pursues Isabella. This begs the question, if Conrad had lived,
would Manfred still have eventually pursued Isabella, or was this his way of
coping with his only son’s death? Manfred seems to see only Conrad, and never
Matilda, as his child until Matilda’s death, however he truly seems to mourn
the loss of Matilda. Is he truly
mourning the loss of his child, or is he mourning what he now realizes is the
total loss of his estate?
I agree fully about the reading being difficult, due to the characters hiding the grief. I also think that the use of third person, and jumping from person to person played a role in difficulty as well. The fact that there is very little mourning makes it difficult to understand how the characters are feeling. i enjoyed your opinion very much, and too thought the lack of grief played an important factor.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Manfred's lack of grief in this book. When I think back to the story, I can't think of any examples where Manfred shows any sympathy for his actions toward his family. I'm curious as to why this lack of empathy is prevalent in characters of Gothic literature.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if it's a theme of goth literature or just this novel in particular but most of the characters seemed to be very internalized with their feelings. If anything I would add that the only way that the reader has any inclination of contrast, it would be from the setting. The outside vehicles such as the fantastic elements seem to be the only thing to really drive the story past the thick air of grief, and very one sided external characters.
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ReplyDeleteThis is interesting: how can the characters both have internalized feelings (ie. hiding their emotions) but also one-sided and external? One possible explanation is that each character is meant to convey their ruling passion: Hippolyta is devoutly religious, Manfred is obsessed with continuing his line and keeping the sins of his ancestors hidden, Theodore is in love, etc. Thinking about it this way, it makes sense Manfred doesn't show grief: he is so ruled by his one obsession that there isn't room for any other emotions, no matter how natural they appear.
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