Ann Radcliffe

A Discussion of the Gothic tradition in the novels “Northanger Abbey” by Jane Austen and “The mysteries of Udolpho” by Ann Radcliffe. The genre of Gothic fiction has been a strong writing tradition since its birth in 1764 with the publishing of Horace Walpole’s “The Castle of Otranto”. The genre is a mix of both romance and horror with its clearest distinctions being a love of foreign setting and gloomy old buildings, a strong hero, swooning heroine and the constant looming of a monster or mystery. The parents of said swooning heroine also often have a penchant for dying very early on. Both Jane Austen and Ann Radcliffe make use of these aspects of the genre to very different results, while Radcliffe uses them freely and without irony to create a true piece of Gothic fiction, there is an unsubtle subversion of the genre in almost every line of Austen’s famous first novel. At the time of “Northanger Abbeys” first writing Gothic fiction was at the height of…

Researchers trying to piece together her literary influences and symbols in her novels have read through the library’s catalog in order to see the books that would have been there during her lifetime. Not only was the library a haven for Austen, the rest of her family spent a majority of their time in that location as well(¶ 5). This shows that she was shown a love of literature from a young age since it was something her family enjoyed too. In letters she had written to other family members and…

Ego’s Blinders: Perspective as a Projection of Success In his article “Keywords”, Raymond Williams describes three meanings of the word ‘nature’: “(i) the essential quality and character of something, (ii) the inherent force which directs either the world or human beings or both; (iii) the material world itself, taken as including or not including human beings” (219). Different perspectives on nature and its value are present in all forms of literature. William Shakespeare’s play As You Like It…

Compare and Contrast Elizabeth Bennet with Mrs. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is a novel that is centered on the Bennet family and explores their relationships. I would like to talk about two characters of the Bennet family. These characters are Elizabeth Bennet and Mrs. Bennet. Elizabeth Bennet is one of the most well known female characters in English Literature. She is the protagonist of Pride and Prejudice and she is the second…

"Character Studies for Les Miserables." Stuartfernie. Stuart Fernie, n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2015. Stuart Fernie is one of the most famous writers, that's why I choose his article from his own website. In this article Fernie talks about the main characters, he focuses on the way of how they act, think and gives background about each one of them. He mentions many examples, and I'm interested in Valjean character because he is the most famous character in this novel. Fernie focuses on…

The seventeenth-century Gothic novel is associated with the combination of the supernatural realm and Romanticism. Jane Austen’s novel, Northanger Abbey, is an attempt to critique the seventeenth-century Gothic novel by identifying Catherine’s sensibility through her over fascination and addiction to reading—such as Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho. Austen utilizes Catherine’s obsession with novels as a means to highlight how such fascination has caused Catherine to become naïve and…

Jane Eyre by charlotte Bronte corresponds to the literary genre called Bildungsroman. It relates to the educative events of the journey life takes from childhood to adulthood. The passage studied in this essay is also classed as Gothic genre which features supernatural element like the voice of Mr Rochester Jane recalls clearly hearing out of an unlikely place. In this novel we see Jane growing up in adversary environments passing through a lot of obstacles which she must surmount to survive.…

The Wilderness: Viewpoint in Nature as a Projection of Success In William Shakespeare’s As You Like It, a series of betrayals and unfortunate events leads up to the main characters all being placed somewhere within the forest of Arden. As the play unfolds, the theme of “power” and, more specifically, who holds this power becomes prominent in determining the outcome of each character. Similarly, Ann Radcliffe’s A Sicilian Romance introduces readers to the characters, Duke de Luovo and Madame…

One part of the Enlightenment that brought on reform was the gap between social classes. During the enlightenment if you happened to fall in the middle class you were often looked down upon and viewed as less than everyone else. The effects of living in certain social classes during the Enlightenment Period depict the character Ellena Rosalba in the book The Italian by Ann Radcliffe. The character, Ellena Rosalba, is a major character within the story of The Italian by Ann Radcliffe. The…

learned to write, Helen kept a journal, which she kept for most of her life. Helen wanted to learn more; she wanted to learn how to speak. Annie could not do this for her, so she got her a different teacher who could help her to learn how to speak. Helen’s speech however, was not very clear. Word spread about Helen. There were newspapers written about her and she was given invitations to meet very important people. At the early age of 12, Helen published an autobiographical sketch in the…