The Castle of Otranto

Setting

Medieval Italy – “based on a manuscript written at Naples in 1529”

Main Characters

Manfred: Lord of the castle, intent on ensuring his family keep possession of the castle.
Hippolita: Manfred’s wife, Conrad and Matilda’s mother.
Matilda: Daughter of Hippolita and Manfred.
Isabella: A princess, raised by Manfred and his wife, engaged to their son, Conrad.
Theodore: A local peasant who helps Isabella flee from the castle.
Frederic: Isabella’s long-lost father, who has been at war.

Summary

Manfred awaits the marriage of his sickly son, Conrad, to Isabella. Manfred is eager for the wedding as he believes it will avoid an ancient prophecy that predicted his castle and his rulership of Otranto “should pass from the present family, whenever the real owner should be grown too large to inhabit it”.

On the day of the wedding, Conrad is crushed to death by an enormous helmet that has fallen from the sky. Realising his only male heir is dead, and knowing his wife can no longer bear children, Manfred decides to marry Isabella himself. When Isabella refuses, Manfred seizes her, intending to assault her. A series of supernatural events, including an appearance by the ghost of his grandfather, distract Manfred and Isabella manages to free herself.

The peasant Theodore helps Isabella escape the castle to the church of St. Nicholas, while Manfred and his guards are chased by a giant armoured leg. Outside the castle, Theodore defends Isabella from a knight, only to learn it is her father, Frederic, who is also seeking Isabella. They return to the castle and explain the situation to Manfred’s wife Hippolita. Frederic had a vision that his daughter was in danger, so returned and met a hermit who told him of a prophecy of the hero Alfonso (who bears a striking resemblance to Theodore).

In another attempt to marry Isabella, Manfred proposes to Frederic that they marry each other’s daughters. Frederic agrees but is haunted by the ghost of the hermit and decides not to go through with the marriage. Manfred is furious after hearing that Theodore is meeting a lady in Alfonso’s tomb. Convinced it is Isabella, he sneaks into the tomb and fatally stabs her. In horror, Manfred realizes that he has slain his own daughter, Matilda. Moments after Matilda’s death the castle wall behind Manfred crumbles to reveal an enormous vision of Alfonso who declares that his grandson, Theodore, is the true her of Otranto. Manfred reveals that his grandfather poisoned Alfonso and usurped his throne, and he agrees to abdicate.

The novel ends with Frederic offering Isabella’s hand in marriage to Theodore, who eventually agrees, though he mourns the loss of his true love, Matilda, for many years.