The Castle of Ortranto

                        
                         

In the book The Castle of Otranto, the author Horace Walpole, displays many fears that haunted the people of the 17th century Europe. The fear of the continuation of the family, the lack of power of women in a men dominated world, the fear of the supernatural; ghost, unexplainable events and curses, and the fear of the dark. These things were of great concern during this time and things that Walpole draws attention to in his story.

The thing that I felt must strongly about we're the suppression of women. The character Manfred, is the main male in charge, he is determining the lives of three of the women in the story: Hippolita, his wife, Matilda, his daughter, and Isabella, the fiancé of his late son. Due to the loss of his only male heir he believes that he must do something to continue his line. So Manfred comes up with a plan to divorce Hippolita so that he can marry Isabella. Hippolita is so oppressed that when she finally hears about the plan that she is more than willing to submit to the terms. However, Isabella is not willing, escapes from Manfred aggressive grip. Fearing for her virtual she flees into the darkness,not knowing what to expect. Poor Matilda devoid of her fathers affection believes she is destine for the convent, but falls in love with a handsome stranger. Despite Matilda finding true love, her father offer her in a trade to Frederick, Isabella's father, for Isabella. As a woman of the 21st century I find all of this disturbing, so I have to assume that this is a fear that Walpole was trying to shine a light on. During the 17th century.

However, I believe that this same fear is what made this book so popular. Women could live vicariously through Isabella or relate to the pious Matilda or feel sorry for the totally oppressed Hippolita. Isabella tried to take control of her unfortunate situation showing great strength for a woman of this period. Even Matilda showed periods of strength; the release of Theodore and meeting him in the cemetery. This would have been intriguing reading for the time and after reading it myself loved the drama.