By Bill Gaither
JASNA-NC members met on February 15, 2026, for a fun and insightful discussion of Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto (1764), the first Gothic novel in English and the forerunner of a robust literary tradition that Jane Austen famously spoofed in Northanger Abbey (1817). Regional coordinator Sara Tavela presided and also ably led the literary discussion at this Virtual Book Club meeting.
Members discussed the typical Gothic elements in The Castle of Otranto, including its gloomy settings, the brooding and malevolent protagonist, the persecuted damsel, the supernatural appearances, the ancestral guilt, the atmosphere of suspense and dread, and the intense emotions of fear, rage, sorrow, and romantic obsession.
In considering the characters of Otranto, members praised the independence and liberality of Isabella, the heroic appeal of Theodore, and the calming influence of Jerome. Members naturally detested the passionate and tyrannical obsessiveness of Manfred and condemned the opportunism of Frederic. They also deplored, from a modern viewpoint, the slavish obedience of Hippolyta and Matilda to Manfred, but enjoyed the colorful and pragmatic servants Jaquez and Bianca.
Members also found in The Castle of Otranto echoes of English history (Henry VIII’s efforts to secure a male heir; Empress Matilda and the Anarchy) and of Shakespeare’s plays (Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet).
Members found considerable humor, unintended by Walpole, in some elements of The Castle of Otranto: the manner of Conrad’s death, the gigantic helmet and saber, and the multitudinous retinue of Frederic. Humor was also directed towards Theodore for his readiness to sacrifice his life in defense of each damsel in distress that he encountered.
In Northanger Abbey, Chapter 6, Catherine Morland has been poring with fascination over Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho, and Isabella Thorpe provides a list of other titles in the genre:
“I will read you their names directly; here they are, in my pocketbook. Castle of Wolfenbach, Clermont, Mysterious Warnings, Necromancer of the Black Forest, Midnight Bell, Orphan of the Rhine, and Horrid Mysteries. Those will last us some time.”
“Yes, pretty well; but are they all horrid, are you sure they are all horrid?”
“Yes, quite sure. . . .”
When Catherine visits the Abbey, her overcharged imagination conjures Gothic fantasies that are sooner or later exploded, to her eventual deep embarrassment.
As members noted, Jane Austen adds ironic touches of the Gothic to some of her characters to highlight the persistence in English society of male domination and the subjugation of women. Interesting parallels were found between General Tilney and the typical Gothic male protagonist: the general’s angry impatience, his insistence on obedience to his edicts, and his single-minded devotion to attaining wealth and status for his children through their marriages. The coercive and deceitful qualities of the Gothic male protagonist are reflected in the character of young John Thorpe. And Eleanor Tilney shares with the Gothic heroine her characteristics of goodness and beauty, her isolation, and her lack of agency under a domineering male figure.
Catherine Morland herself is a comedic and relatable antithesis to the Gothic heroine: she is vigorous rather than delicate, “almost pretty” rather than beautiful; she lacks any notable talent or brilliance; she is without a tragic past; and both her parents possess sanity, goodness, and sense. Although she begins the novel as an inexperienced and impressionable teenager, she learns from her experiences and her mistakes and becomes an apt mate for the grounded, intelligent, kind, and well-to-do Henry Tilney.