The second reading for the class was The Romance of the Forest by Ann Radcliff. As it is a Gothic novel we expect to see scenes of horror, suspense, incestuous motives, a ruined castle or abbey and other elements of Goth like in The Castle of Ortanto by Walpole. The novel revolves around a Protagonist who is not the usual kind in the Gothic literature. Unlike The Castle of Otranto the protagonist is a lady in distress. When we start reading the book it takes a while for the author to introduce Adeline, the protagonist, and makes us wonder how she can be the main character in this story. Since this novel is a Female Gothic novel we do see the familiar struggle of female against the antagonist Marquis, the lord of the ruined abbey. For a start we know that Adeline was a motherless girl and she was captured by bandits from her father. The story begins when La Motte and his family who have been running away from the creditors stop at a place to find shelter. They discover the shelter to be housed by bandits and the bandits spare their lives in a condition that they take Adeline away from the place as soon as possible. This is the point where the quest of the distressed and vulnerable Protagonist begins. This is a very typical characteristic of a Female Gothic where there is a tale of travel of the distressed.
The setting of the novel is the late 18th century and early 19th century England where the characters are introduced and develop along dense forest, hiding trails, abandoned house and a ruined abbey. The society has its own ways with women as they have two choices; either to get married by force or get extinguished with the perils the society throws at them. Adeline being abducted by the bandits and being transferred to the Motte family represents the vulnerability of women in the society. La Motte perhaps would not have agreed to the bandits if his life was not at stake but there should be some sort of insecurity growing in lady Motte as they find Adeline very fragile but beautiful. At this point it was clear that the charm of a lady in distress is bringing a storm of events in their lives as it happens that their lives are connected by a chance.
The runaway along with Adeline go through much trouble along their way to find almost uninhabitable abbey or a castle where it looks as if La Motte gets another chance as he could reside there and be protected from the creditors. They clean up the place and soon discover the abbey belongs to the Marquis, the antagonist. This is the inclination point of the story.
The setting of the novel is the late 18th century and early 19th century England where the characters are introduced and develop along dense forest, hiding trails, abandoned house and a ruined abbey. The society has its own ways with women as they have two choices; either to get married by force or get extinguished with the perils the society throws at them. Adeline being abducted by the bandits and being transferred to the Motte family represents the vulnerability of women in the society. La Motte perhaps would not have agreed to the bandits if his life was not at stake but there should be some sort of insecurity growing in lady Motte as they find Adeline very fragile but beautiful. At this point it was clear that the charm of a lady in distress is bringing a storm of events in their lives as it happens that their lives are connected by a chance.
The runaway along with Adeline go through much trouble along their way to find almost uninhabitable abbey or a castle where it looks as if La Motte gets another chance as he could reside there and be protected from the creditors. They clean up the place and soon discover the abbey belongs to the Marquis, the antagonist. This is the inclination point of the story.
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