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~ (Author) "Manfred, prince of Otranto, had one son and one daughter: the latter, a most beautiful virgin, aged eighteen, was called Matilda..." (more)
Key Phrases: ancient catholic family, ancient romance, second preface, Holy Land, Alfonso the Good, Don Ricardo
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Horror tale by Horace Walpole, published in 1765. The work is considered the first gothic novel in the English language; its supernatural happenings and mysterious ambiance were widely emulated in the genre. Manfred is the tyrannical usurper of the princedom of Otranto. On the day his son Conrad is to marry Isabella, Conrad is found dead in the courtyard, crushed by a mammoth plumed helmet. Manfred decides to divorce his wife and marry Isabella in order to produce the heir he needs to retain control of the realm, but Isabella escapes to Father Jerome with the help of Theodore, a handsome young peasant. From a birthmark on Theodore's neck, Father Jerome discovers that the young man is really his natural son, born before he entered the priesthood, when he was the prince of Falconara. Later, the giant form of the martyred rightful prince Alfonso appears, proclaiming Theodore's right of succession, and then ascends to heaven. Manfred and his wife enter separate convents. Theodore marries Isabella and rules Otranto as prince. -- The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

One of the first, great Gothic novels, and one of the most influential books in literary history, this thrilling tale abounds in adventure, suspense, and supernatural occurrences. In a realm where a villain reigns, mysterious events aid in fulfilling a prophecy that spells doom for the ruler and justice for the rightful heir.
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 128 pages
  • Publisher: Dover Publications (March 19, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0486434125
  • ISBN-13: 978-0486434124
  • Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 0.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #115,912 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Horace Walpole
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Manfred, prince of Otranto, had one son and one daughter: the latter, a most beautiful virgin, aged eighteen, was called Matilda. Read the first page
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ancient catholic family, ancient romance, second preface
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Holy Land, Alfonso the Good, Don Ricardo
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Customer Reviews

9 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Best edition available, March 26, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: The Castle of Otranto (Classic, Modern, Penguin) (Paperback)
Finally someone has provided us with a readable, absorbing, and correct edition of this novel. I've always found this a difficult work, but the introduction and notes are wonderful, reading the book as camp and as opera. The hundreds of errors in the Oxford University Press edition are finally corrected here, and the appendix (providing 75 years of responses to Walpole's romance) makes for hilarious reading. Without question the best available teaching text.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Setting the Tone, June 9, 2007
"The Castle of Otranto" by Horace Walpole, is regarded as the first novel of the gothic genre. Indeed its short and simple story is filled with the supernatural, and what must nowadays count as caricatures for characters. The charm of the story lies within its historical relevance and what it brought to future stories within that genre, not in the story itself.

Immediately the reader is introduced to the tyrannical prince of Otranto, Manfred, as he is about to marry his sickly son to the princess Isabella in a quest to secure his claim to the throne he may not be entitled to. When Manfred's son Conrad is struck dead, with no witnesses to his ghastly death, Manfred is at a total loss. He strikes upon the idea of marrying the young princess Isabella for himself; when he proposes the notion to Isabella, she is frightened and repulsed and runs away, seeking sanctuary within the castle's monastery. Then ensues Manfred's stalking of Isabella while trying to get out of his marriage to his extremely pious wife Hippolita, while all about the castle the servants and ruling family keep having dreadful visions.

In the end these supernatural visions serve to bring justice to the rightful heir, a young man who unwittingly helps Isabella escape from Manfred's clutches only to fall in love with Manfred's daughter, Matilda. The theme is that of the sins of the father being visited upon the children (even generations later) and is not a new theme in modern literature, but an interesting choice and one that works with the supernatural means Walpole employs to bring it about. While "The Castle of Otranto" is a watershed in the gothic genre, it is by far not the best or most notable work of that period; yet without the blueprint laid meticulously out by Walpole, such greater stories may never have been written.
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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Broadview Edition of Horace Walpole's Castle of Otranto, April 9, 2003
By Frederick S. Frank (Meadville, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Castle of Otranto and The Mysterious Mother (Broadview Literary Texts) (Paperback)
Prospective buyers and users should take note that the Customer Reviews posted on Amazon.com are erroneous. They pertain to previous
editions of Walpole's Gothic novel and do not apply to the Broadview edition. A unique feature of the Broadview edition is the inclusion of Walpole's drama, The Mysterious Mother, sometimes mentioned by literary historians as the first Gothic drama. Thus, the user has at his disposal two important prototypes of the Gothic novel. Appendices include excerpts from Burke's treatise on the sublime, Hurd's Letters on Chivalry and Romance, the Graveyard poets, Hervey's Meditations Among the Tombs, Walpole's correspondence, and the eccentric architectural splendors of Strawberry Hill, Walpole's Gothicized villa on the Thames. I am the edition's editor, Frederick S. Frank, another fact omitted from the Amazon.com descriptor.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing?
Known as the landmark in "Gothic literature", I wasn't too sure of what to expect with this. Things started off well when the would-be husband gets squished under a giant helment... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Nick

2.0 out of 5 stars the humble beginnings of gothic fiction
Here it is: the novel that created the gothic fiction genre and paved the way for such works as Frankenstein, Dracula, The Monk, Melmoth the Wanderer, The Shining and Alien (to... Read more
Published on December 9, 2007 by Z. E. Lowell

2.0 out of 5 stars It may have it's place as the first Gothic, but it's still bad
This mess of a book, a semblance of ideas inspired largely by Shakespeare is nothing less than throw-away trash. Read more
Published on November 6, 2007 by M. Daneker

3.0 out of 5 stars Free SF Reader
A nasty accidental death is not a good thing to have happen on your
wedding day, particularly when it happens to the guy you were going to marry. Read more
Published on September 3, 2007 by Blue Tyson

4.0 out of 5 stars Leading the Way
Everything that can be said is almost certainly expressed in the comprehensive introduction to this fine edition. Read more
Published on November 3, 2003 by paul mason

5.0 out of 5 stars I found this book very good and a bit scary.
Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole I found that this book, was a very good book. It was so good that I felt that I was in the book. Read more
Published on May 8, 1997

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