![]() ![]() With its compelling blend of sinister portents, tempestuous passions and ghostly visitations, it spawned an entire literary tradition and influenced such writers as Ann Radcliffe and Bram Stoker. Fear that this prophecy will come to pass motivates the bizarre and villainous Manfred, the Prince of Otranto, to cling to ownership. First published pseudonymously in 1764, purporting to be an ancient Italian text from the time of the crusades, The Castle of Otranto is a founding work of Gothic fiction. The Castle of Otranto exists under an ancient prophecy: 'the castle and lordship of Otranto should pass from the present family, whenever the real owner should be grown too large to inhabit it' (6). ![]() But a series of terrifying supernatural omens soon threaten this unlawful union, as the curse placed on Manfred's ancestor, who usurped the lawful Prince of Otranto, begins to unfold. The Castle of Otranto is a 1764 novel by Horace Walpole. His calculating father Manfred fears that his dynasty will now come to an end and determines to marry his son's bride himself - despite the fact he is already married. The book was immediately popular and would influence. The Castle of Otranto is the first gothic novel ever written. ![]() ![]() Today he is best known for his letters, which have political significance, and for writing the classic gothic novel The Castle of Otranto. On the day of his wedding, Conrad, heir to the house of Otranto, is killed in mysterious circumstances. Horace Walpole was an English writer, historian, and Whig politician. ![]()
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