THE MYSTERIES OF UDOLPHO

The book that inspired generations of imitators, The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliff, raises to a new level the genre of the Gothic Novel. Replete with incidents of physical and psychological terror: remote crumbling castles, seemingly supernatural events, a brooding, scheming villain and a persecuted heroine it is the quintessential Gothic romance. Set in Southern France and Northern Italy in 1584, the novel explores the plight of Emily St. Aubert, a young French woman orphaned by the death of her father. She is imprisoned in Castle Udolpho, a home filled with supernatural terrors, by Signor Montoni, an Italian brigand who has married her aunt and guardian Madame Cheron. The tale of her attempted escape is a gripping story that has thrilled readers for generations. Often cited as the archetypal Gothic novel, The Mysteries of Udolpho appears prominently in Jane Austen’s 1817 novel Northanger Abbey, where an impressionable young woman reader comes to see friends and acquaintances as Gothic villains and victims, with amusing results.