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The Castle of Otranto

2011-01-19T01:49:08Z

Irma:

Horace Walpole's ''The Castle of Otranto''(1764) is regarded as the first gothic novel.
The first edition of ''The Castle of Otranto'' was published anonymously. Walpole claimed in the preface that ''The Castle of Otranto''is a translation of a medieval Italian story printed in 1529 and written in the time of the crusades. He alleged that the stoty was found in the library of an ancient catholic family in the north of England.
But as the first edition was a huge success, Walpole admitted that he is the authour of this work.

'''
Summary'''

The protagonist of the story is Manfred is the prince of Otranto. However, he has no right to his throne, because his grandfather was a usurper who poisoned the rightful ruler, Prince Alfonso. There is a prophecy that the usurpers would remain in power as long as there was a male heir and the castle remains large enough to hold the rightful ruler.
Manfred arranges for his son Conrad a wedding with Isabella who is the daughter of another Italian noble.
Dramatically, Conrad is crushed to death by a giant helmet on the day of his wedding. Without an heir, and with a barren wife, Manfred decides to keep the throne in the family: he determines to marry Isabella to have an heir with her and locks in his castle.
Isabella escapes from the castle with the help of a young peasant, Theodore who is suspected of involvement in Conrad's murder.
Theodore is imprisoned, but he is released by Manfred's daughter, Matilda, who is in love with him. Manfred then learns that Theodore has arranged a lover's meeting at the tomb of Alfonso. He believes that Theodore is meeting Isabella and he surprises the couple and stabs the girl in revenge but discovers that he has murdered his own daughter, Matilda. Alfonso's ghost now grows to enormous size and the castle is no longer big enough to hold it. Manfred's fate is sealed when the ghost destroys the castle. He admits that his family usurped the princedom and the ghost proclaims Theodore his heir. The story ends with the marriage of Theodore and Isabella.

''The Castle of Otranto'' is of gothic characteristics such as supernatural events.
Paintings come to life, statues bleed, and a giant sword develops a mind of its own.
The novel can be regarded as a counterpart to the enlightened 18th century as it is full of superstition, barbaric happenings, ghostly incarnations and chivalry which have no place in the 18th century.

http://www.suite101.com/content/horace-walpoles-the-castle-of-otranto-a198608
http://www.shvoong.com/books/1973811-castle-otranto/
Botting, Fred. "Gothic" London. Routledge, 1996

The Castle of Otranto

2011-01-19T01:47:30Z

Irma: Created page with ' Horace Walpole's ''The Castle of Otranto''(1764) is regarded as the first gothic novel. The first edition of ''The Castle of Otranto'' was published anonymously. Walpole claimed…'

Horace Walpole's ''The Castle of Otranto''(1764) is regarded as the first gothic novel.
The first edition of ''The Castle of Otranto'' was published anonymously. Walpole claimed in the preface that ''The Castle of Otranto''is a translation of a medieval Italian story printed in 1529 and written in the time of the crusades. He alleged that the stoty was found in the library of an ancient catholic family in the north of England.
But as the first edition was a huge success, Walpole admitted that he is the authour of this work.

Summary

The protagonist of the story is Manfred is the prince of Otranto. However, he has no right to his throne, because his grandfather was a usurper who poisoned the rightful ruler, Prince Alfonso. There is a prophecy that the usurpers would remain in power as long as there was a male heir and the castle remains large enough to hold the rightful ruler.
Manfred arranges for his son Conrad a wedding with Isabella who is the daughter of another Italian noble.
Dramatically, Conrad is crushed to death by a giant helmet on the day of his wedding. Without an heir, and with a barren wife, Manfred decides to keep the throne in the family: he determines to marry Isabella to have an heir with her and locks in his castle.
Isabella escapes from the castle with the help of a young peasant, Theodore who is suspected of involvement in Conrad's murder.
Theodore is imprisoned, but he is released by Manfred's daughter, Matilda, who is in love with him. Manfred then learns that Theodore has arranged a lover's meeting at the tomb of Alfonso. He believes that Theodore is meeting Isabella and he surprises the couple and stabs the girl in revenge but discovers that he has murdered his own daughter, Matilda. Alfonso's ghost now grows to enormous size and the castle is no longer big enough to hold it. Manfred's fate is sealed when the ghost destroys the castle. He admits that his family usurped the princedom and the ghost proclaims Theodore his heir. The story ends with the marriage of Theodore and Isabella.

''The Castle of Otranto'' is of gothic characteristics such as supernatural events.
Paintings come to life, statues bleed, and a giant sword develops a mind of its own.
The novel can be regarded as a counterpart to the enlightened 18th century as it is full of superstition, barbaric happenings, ghostly incarnations and chivalry which have no place in the 18th century.

http://www.suite101.com/content/horace-walpoles-the-castle-of-otranto-a198608
http://www.shvoong.com/books/1973811-castle-otranto/
Botting, Fred. "Gothic" London. Routledge, 1996

On the Origin of Species

2010-12-13T16:57:43Z

Irma: Created page with ' Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life" was published on 24 November 1859. Darw…'

Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life" was published on 24 November 1859.
Darwin's theories were quite groundbreaking as they contradicted to the theories of evolution of the Curch of England.
According to Darwin "populations 'evolve' over the course of generations through a process of natural selection" and all species are traced back to one ancestor. Darwin believed that human beings were were part of the same evolutionary process like animals and were therefore related to them.

The Struggle for Existence

The most famous chapter of Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" is probably Chapter III - Struggle for Existence.
In "Struggle for Existence" Darwin claims that " as more individuals are produced than can possibly survive, there must in every case be a struggle for existence, either one individual with another of the same species, or with the individuals of distinct species, or with the physical conditions of life." He is referring to the doctrine of Malthus which implies that the increase in population is not equal to the increase in food. Thus, those who are not "fit" enough do not survive.

The Reaction of the Church

Darwin's theories contradicted strongly to the christian theory that human beings are created by god.
Moreover, people believed that God influences human beings in evolution and that praying could influnence creation.