Friday, October 24, 2014

Seven reasons to read The Mysteries of Udolpho (Radcliffe) this Halloween

Image: Open Library Covers
Ann Ward Radcliffe, The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794)
[Psst, it's free at Project Gutenberg]

Jane Austen mocked it in Northanger Abbey (1817)-- and I'll gleefully admit that this Gothic icon has drinking (or Halloween candy-eating) game potential!  Bottoms up each time heroine Emily St. Aubert (a) faints, (b) plays plaintive, melancholy music on her lute, or (c) composes a poem/song...  Or hey, just eat chocolate whenever the word "sublime" pops up in the text!  If you're in pursuit of a sort of 18th-century campiness, there's plenty of material here.

And you expected every bit of it, right?  ...However, I'm about to take the somewhat riskier step of asserting that-- swooniness aside-- this novel still works!  It spellbound me at age 16, and since then I've returned to it at least half a dozen times.  Here's what's to love:

1.  Page-turning qualities that obsessed Catherine Morland.  Despite some moralizing, Udolpho invites you to enter a dreamlike world of unearthly beauty that soon slides into nightmare.  There are slower spots, true-- but the atmosphere draws you in, the "mysteries" are suspenseful, and your mind will whirl with schemes for Emily's escape.  (Mine did, at least!)

2.  Romantic innocence.  Set in the Pyrenees, the first phase of Emily's romance with Valancourt is idyllic ("Oh, come on!  That would never happen")... Yet it's the sweetest fantasy: She's exploring a glorious landscape with her beloved father, all the while falling in love with a fellow traveler who shares all of her enthusiasms, and who-- blessedly-- loves her in return.

(Curl up on the couch and sigh.)

I like to linger a little in this epoch, because I know that it's soon to end.  And as the story progresses, I never fail to mourn its loss.

3.  First world problems, early-modern style.  It's fun to want to bang your head against the wall when Emily allows scruples (as we'd see them today) to thwart her happiness and endanger her life.
Simon Howden, freedigitalphotos.net

4.  Castle Udolpho is the last word in romantic terror.  Why is this door suddenly locked? Is someone-- or something-- concealed in the room next to mine?  Is that a ghost outside my window?  Does this secret passage ever end, and is it leading me through--shudder-- the catacombs?  Just trying to make sense of that apparently maze-like floor plan (where can she hide??) makes my heart race...

5.  Luminous bits of verse by Shakespeare, Thompson, Milton, and other poets ... They're well-chosen, enhance the atmosphere, and are definitely worth pausing to read (unlike "Emily's" compositions, which add little).

6.  This story extends beyond the supernatural drama.  What happens when two lovers meet after a year of widely divergent experiences?  We actually find out.

7.  Emily's character.  Many will disagree with me here, and understandably: At once impossibly beautiful, accomplished, and gentle, Emily embodies a cookie-cutter femininity prone to fainting fits, crying jags, and reliance on male rescuers.  True.

Yet she's far from weak.  No, I'm serious.... !  She stands up to her scheming aunt and evil step uncle; takes steps to secure her own freedom and financial independence; and refuses matrimony on any terms but her own.  Moreover, she has a strong sense of humor and empathy... While Emily falls short of our 21st-century standards of female agency, she nevertheless grows into a distinct presence on the page.  And it's fun to watch a stock character become a (stubborn, dignified, somewhat world-weary) person.


Have you read The Mysteries of Udolpho-- and if so, what did you think of it?  Would you call it a favorite?


Happy Friday!  Thanks for visiting, and be sure to check out Conversion Diary for more "Quick Takes."

11 comments:

  1. I actually owned Udolpho for a few years (picked it up at a library sale and eventually re-donated it) but never read it. You've managed to persuade me that I probably should have. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I bought this for my daughter after we read Northanger Abbey. Now I want to read it for myself! What a wonderful review!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks. I hope that you and your daughter both enjoy the book!!

      Delete
  3. While Northanger Abbey is my least favorite Austen novel I have always been curious about this book but this is the first review I've read of it. Maybe I'll give it a try sometime.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by! While Udolpho requires a bit of indulgence at times, I do think it's well worth checking out.

      Delete
  4. I love Northhanger Abbey and have wondered about this book but never looked it up. Sounds like it would be a lot of fun!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, it is-- on more than one level! :) Thanks!

      Delete
  5. In this day and age, there is something to be said for romantic innocence.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I read Udolpho last year and really loved it. Campy yes, but still a good yarn. I like your assessment of Emily's character as well as your suggested drinking game!

    ReplyDelete