Free English Literature Dissertations - That Was Not The Case When Our Author Wrote; Much Less When The Story Itself
That was not the case when our author wrote; much less when the story itself is supposed to have happened9. Walpole is the first gothic writer who uncovers the unconscious in people through their deeds. Thus applying to psychological types introduced by Freud, Lacan and Kristeva, the characters of Walpole may be divided into ‘ego’ characters and ‘id’ characters. Ego, or conscious is characterised by the adherence to reason, while Id, or unconscious by the preoccupation with passion. In this regard, such characters of The Castle of Otranto as Hippolita, Matilda, Father Jerome and Theodore belong to ‘ego’ characters that adhere to the established traditions and religious beliefs, rejecting all displays of powerful feelings and emotions.
However, Manfred, Fredric and Isabella are ‘id’ characters that are preoccupied with superstition and passion and that make constant attempts to satisfy themselves, but not other people. When Manfred, Prince of Otranto, hears the prophecy about the loss of his power, he applies to various actions in order to change his destiny. But Manfred appears weak in his struggle with supernatural powers; utilising skeletons, falling blood, ghostly bodies and the images of saints, Walpole reveals that there are some natural forces that control people and their actions. These supernatural powers serve as the reflection of people’s psychological disorders and crimes; on the one hand, Walpole demonstrates the evil hidden deep inside such characters as Manfred, but, on the other hand, he provides a psychological explanation of both his evil actions and the emergence of supernatural powers that appear as a result of these actions. As the writer states in regard to his novel, it was an attempt to blend the two kinds of romance, the ancient and the modern. In the former all was imagination and improbability; in the latter, nature is always intended to be, and sometimes has been copied with success10.
In his analysis of people’s formation, Lacan presents a ‘Mirror Stage’ theory that reveals that a child starts to realise his identity, when he observes his/her image in the mirror, usually identifying this image with the image of his/her father. When Manfred realises that he has no heir, no person who can be identified with his image, he turns to actions that finally destroy him and result in other negative consequences, inspiring the rise of supernatural powers. In this regard, the ancient castle is the major supernatural and terrifying element of the narration, reflecting the thirst of the age for those touches of strangeness and spectral antiquity11; it evokes various queer phenomena, such as the appearance of armour or the revival of paintings. But above all, the castle produces haunted creatures that are introduced to uncover the concealed truth.
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