About the Novel
Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto (1764) is widely regarded as the first English Gothic novel. It established many of the genre’s lasting elements: a remote haunted castle, an ancient family curse and prophecy, supernatural interventions (a giant helmet falling from nowhere, a moving portrait, ghostly apparitions), secret passages, a tyrannical usurper, and a mysterious young hero whose true identity is revealed at the end. Walpole initially presented the book as the translation of an old Italian manuscript; only in the second edition did he acknowledge authorship and add the subtitle “A Gothic Story.”
Plot Summary
The story is about Prince Manfred of Otranto, who is desperate to have a male heir to keep his claim safe from the prophecy that the castle will leave his family when the rightful heir is too large to inhabit. On the day Conrad is to marry Princess Isabella, his sickly son Conrad is crushed by a giant helmet. Then Manfred himself tries to marry Isabella. With the help of a young servant called Theodore she escapes through the secret passages of the castle. Meanwhile, Manfred’s kind-hearted daughter Matilda falls for Theodore, leading to a romantic rivalry with Isabella. Matilda’s tragic fate is highlighted when her father accidentally kills her thinking she is Isabella. The supernatural signs increase, other claimants appear and the prophecy finally brings to light the truth about the legitimate line of the castle. The novel is a mixture of romance, horror and melodrama, and its style was much imitated by later writers.
Influence and Legacy
Its influence is extensive. The castle as both setting and character, the clash between the rational and the supernatural, tyrannical power, hidden identity, and rightful inheritance all became standard Gothic devices. Direct descendants include Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the stories of Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. The novel’s theatrical excesses, giant pieces of armor, sudden deaths, heightened emotion—have also made it a natural source for stage adaptations.
The Real Castello Aragonese in Otranto
There is a real Castello Aragonese in Otranto, Italy. Walpole chose the name largely because it sounded well; he only later learned the town possessed a fortress. The architecture in the novel draws more from his own Gothic Revival villa, Strawberry Hill.
The Castello Aragonese has two distinctive halls outside its original quadrangular core: a triangular hall (added mid-16th century when a bastion was built between two towers) and a rectangular hall. Both are used for exhibitions and cultural events. The castle and its Fossato (moat area) regularly host festivals, film screenings, performances, and temporary stages. Nearby larger towns (especially Lecce, roughly 35–40 minutes away) have conventional theatres that appear in searches for theatres near Otranto. There is no permanent pair of theatres known as “the two theatres in Otranto.”
The review below is of a 2009 stage adaptation by David Rice produced by First Folio Theatre.
By David M. Rice
Based on the novel by Horace Walpole
Produced by First Folio Theatre
At Mayslake Peabody Estate
Cast: David Girolmo (Manfred), Hayley L. Rice (Matilda), Chris Amos (Theodore), Caitlin Chuckta (Isabella), Tony Dobrowolski (Father Jerome), and Dev Kennedy (Mysterious Knight).
Gothic novel comes to life most in crisp production by First Folio Theatre
Based on the 18th Century Gothic horror novel by Horace Walpole and utilizing the large former chapel at Mayslake Peabody Estate, David Rice’s world premiere adaptation basically works as “a cross between the eeriness of Poe and the romance of Jane Austen, with a dash of Errol Flynn swashbuckling thrown in,” states Rice.
Considered the first Gothic novel (1764), The Castle of Otranto influenced Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Edgar Allan Poe’s The Pit and the Pendulum, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula, as well as Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. The Gothic novel is literature of nightmares using myth, folklore, fairy tale and romance. It conjures up macabre beings such as ghosts, mad monks, vampires and demons usually in dark castles or stormy seas. Dreams fuel the stories.
David Rice’s adaptation of The Castle of Otranto is an ambitious play filled with stock Gothic characters each verbalizing the story with apt descriptions of the curse and the ghosts. Rice has concisely honed the dense novel to a brisk, well-paced 2 hour drama filled with action, some eerie moments, and plausible plot twists. But what is lacking in this entertaining work are shockingly scary interludes. This tale of the supernatural comes across more of a Gothic morality tale than a horror tale.
Baron Manfred of Otranto (David Girolmo in a commanding performance) is obsessed with having a male heir to fight off the Otranto curse. When his only son is killed, he desires Isabella to give him a son since his wife Hippolyta seem unable to bear more children. Isabella loathes Manfred and struggles to escape the castle. She gets help from a new servant, Theodore (the charismatically dashing Chris Amos). The monk, Father Jerome (Tony Dobrowolski), and the Mysterious Knight (Dev Kennedy) complicate Manfred’s plans. Manfred’s daughter Matilda (Hayley L. Rice) aids Theodore, who has garnered Manfred’s wrath. Both Isabella and Matilda have fallen in love with the debonair Theodore—who is more than merely a servant. The plot becomes complicated and the action includes two murders and a couple of sword fights. Hidden chambers, a bleeding mausoleum, falling statues, ghostly visitations, and vocal pronouncements fuel this complex play.
David Girolomo plays Manfred as a flawed villain with some humanity and some humor while Chris Amos plays Theodore as an Errol Flynn type romantic hero. The story unfolds effectively and the action is entertaining but the play lacks a scary edge. The Otranto Castle plays more as Gothic adventure romance than a pure horror work. It does have a macabre tone but the romanticism dominates. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If you enjoy seeing a Gothic novel come to life as I do, then The Castle of Otranto will thoroughly entertain you. Once the folks at First Folio Theatre get accustomed to all elements of their chapel turned stage, their productions will benefit. David Rice’s world premiere is sure worth a look. It is slick, well staged and well performed.
Recommended
Tom Williams
At Mayslake Peabody Estate, Rt 83 & 31st Street, Oakbrook, IL