Castle Of Otranto Rightful Inheritance Quotes

Cambria
Rightful Inheritance of Otranto
The Castle of Otranto written by Horace Walpole is considered to be the first gothic novel. Horace Walpole is said to have written the novel after he had a nightmarish dream, which might explain the darkness of the novel. In this novel through the use of the supernatural, the setting of a castle, and women threatened by a tyrannical male, Walpole reflects the thought of a hero’s identity being revealed thus expressing the idea of rightful inheritance, or more generally the idea of human struggle. The supernatural, a motif in The Castle of Otranto, helps to show the reader that Manfred’s family is not the rightful heir of Otranto. There is a prophecy that states that the castle would pass from the
“The standard Gothic paraphernalia (haunted castles, creaking staircases, vampire bats, and secret passageways) …” (Bayer-Berenbaum 74), can be found in this novel and they help to show the reader that there is a deeper meaning, or more to the story than it looks like. This quote makes the reader think about how deep and intricate the castle they live in really is, “The lower part of the castle was hollowed into several intricate choisters: and it was not easy for one, under so much anxiety, to find the door that opened into the cavern” (Walpole 15). The secret passageways and corridors in the lower part of the castle represent the deeper meaning in the story and that there is something being hidden from everyone. It represents the secret that Theodore is the true heir of Otranto; everybody is so busy with finding an heir that they don’t even think to ask Jerome about his life before he was friar. They are too anxious about finding an heir that they cannot navigate the twist and turns to find out that Theodore is the true heir. Until Alfonso lays the truth right out in front of them, they hadn’t even really thought of the possibility. If they had looked into the resemblance between Alfonso and Theodore, they could have discovered the secret sooner. The setting of the castle in the story The Castle of Otranto shows the reader that there is a secret being hidden from
All of these elements come together to help show that Theodore is the true heir of Otranto and the idea of human struggle. Theodore is constantly doing what he thinks is right he doesn’t try to fit in, because he knows what he wants to do and doesn’t do anything just to please someone. On the other hand, Hippolita struggles to be the perfect wife for Manfred, she wants to please him and give him a son. Hippolita can’t give him a son, because that’s not what her body can do, she is just not able to bear another son. Humans are constantly struggling to fit into society and please the people around them. People don’t realize that they can’t please everyone, because they can’t do everything. Even if someone tries to be who another person wants them to be or do what somebody else wants them to do they’ll always be you and you ca’t change