-
Essay / Otranto Castle Preface Analysis - 1796
Horace Walpole (1717-1797) invented the Gothic novel in his attempt to blend the wildness and imagination of ancient romance, in his own words "an attempt of mixing the two types of romance, the ancient and the modern'' in one step, the Castle of Otranto A novel he claims to have written immediately after being inspired by a dream, "I woke up a. morning... of a dream, of which all I could. recover, I thought I was in an ancient castle... I saw a gigantic hand in armor. In the evening, I sat down and began to write” (Letter of March 9, 1765). On the other hand, many would be quicker to recognize that the writing of this novel was merely a “specialized development of his virtuoso and collector’s taste” ( Holt et al. 230). Nevertheless, no one will dispute that this novel is indeed a page-turner, and this is noticeable even in its preface to the first novel. This three-page opening statement plays two small but significant roles for Walpole at home and abroad. without the context of the novel. The first predicts to his readers how his novel will unfold and what they should expect by hinting at the plot and sharing certain elements of mystery, and the gothic elements of the novel. of the preface was however more to his disadvantage, although I imagine he never intended for this to happen. The preface served as a framework in which Walpole disguises himself as an objective, third-party translator, or he is also known as William Marshal. The same setting that served it to advantages also proved to be an important indicator that the novel could not have been written two hundred years ago. It had all the key aspects of many 18th and 19th century novels, authenticity, authority, antiquity and art...... middle of paper ...... a rather interesting prediction of the story, while not giving too many details. far. The second preface was written later and included in this edition, but it is, in my opinion, of great importance like the first. It is nothing more than a literary preface in which he no longer disguises himself, but openly admits that he is the author of the novel. To conclude, a quip from a reviewer at The Critical Review, “the anonymously published novel is the work of a modern, not medieval, author.” Works cited: Walpole, Horace. The castle of Otranto. London: Collier Books, 1969. Hawthorn, Jeremy. Studying the Novel: An Introduction. London: New York, 1992. A review of "Castle of Otranto: A story", in The Critical Review, Vol.XIX, January 1765, pp 50-51. Beers, Henry A. a history of English romanticism in the 18th Century, 1899.