This passage proposes that the door belongs to the chamber, and because it stands open it constitutes an inception onto another percentage of the hallway. Radcliffe constructs an optical illusion in this passage as the hallway appears to be extended beyond its own physical boundary, comparable to the illusion of garden-gates retreat: ‘the gate seemed to mock her approach, and to retreat before her.’ The gate appears to ‘retreat’ before Ellena, the passage seems to extend beyond its final door, the road outside is full of potential antagonists, and Ellena carries with her a crucial item, the veil, which makes her ever a property of the Church, so that her means of escape will become the instrument of her capture. The prison space increases obstacles
