Page 51 - All About History - Issue 70-18

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Ann Radcliffe (1764-1823)

A pioneer of Gothic’s first generation

Hailed as the “Great Enchantress” and for the final two novels published in
the “Shakespeare of Romance writers”, her lifetime – £500 for The Mysteries Of
Ann Radcliffe was one of the most Udolpho and £800 for The Italian, when
influential novelists of her era, and made £80 was the average. It is impossible to
a marked impact on the Gothic genre. say what more Radcliffe might
Especially acclaimed for The Mysteries have achieved, had she not
Of Udolpho (1794), Radcliffe became largely stopped publishing aged 33,
known for a number of innovations, a decision thought to rest on her
particularly for her use of the ‘explained sensitivity to criticism.
supernatural’ – her tales were concluded
with natural, yet complicated,
explanations. Some critics felt cheated by
this device, and Radcliffe dispensed with
it in her final (posthumously published)
novel Gaston de Blondeville (1826),
instead crafting a real ghost.
“We become But it has also been suggested
the victims of our that the ‘explained supernatural’ was

feelings unless we authentically Gothic, delving into
can in some degree the fear of the supernatural rather
than supernatural beings themselves.
command them” Radcliffe’s works – which soaked up the
The Mysteries of Enlightenment values common before The Mysteries of Udolpho is

Udolpho the French Terror – were so in demand packed with both physical and
psychological terrors
that she was paid extraordinary sums

Emily Brontë (1818-1848)

Author of a classic so unique it baffled critics

Gothic fiction originated in the which calls to mind many essential Linton, pleading to be let in. This
18th century, but Gothic influences elements of the genre. haunting episode sets the tone for
can be seen in novelists’ work Falling asleep reading Cathy’s the novel, and the significance of
throughout the Victorian period. childhood diary Lockwood Heathcliff’s home in the text is
Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights suddenly sees an icy hand reaching suggestive of the Gothic narrative
(1847) begins with a nightmare to him through the window, that historic buildings exude the
experienced by narrator Lockwood, carrying the voice of Catherine stories of owners past.
Wuthering Heights was the first
Heathcliff is the brooding brute of time Emily had written for the
Brontë’s Wuthering Heights
public, apart from a volume of
poetry written under pseudonyms
with her sisters Charlotte and
Anne, published in 1846. Her work
had previously only been for her
and her Anne, their curiosities
primed by an isolated childhood,
spent learning about politics from
B
h
“Be with me always -
their father’s newspapers, and “ B h l l
writing stories for each other. take any form - drive me
Like most female novelists of her mad! only do not leave
era, Emily’s talents are appreciated
far more today than they were me in this abyss, where I
then – contemporary critics cannot find you!”
were aghast at, and baffled by, Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights’s wild power.

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