Annotated Bibliography--Sources on Otranto

 

Here is an annotated bibliography of scholarly sources about The Castle of Otranto.

Bunten, Pete. "Capturing the castle: castles in the air, castles built on sand: Pete Bunten examines the Gothic castle as myth, motif and metaphor, and looks at the ways in which this may reflect the instability of the genre." The English Review Feb. 2010: 2+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 27 Mar. 2012.

Bunten's article is a brief survey of the role of the castle in Gothic literature. Bunten provides examples from various castle scenes in Gothic novels, including The Castle of Otranto and what they represent in the context of their original novels. Although a constant motif in Gothic literature, Bunten argues, the various portrayals of castles reflect a diversity of interpretation of the castle setting. This article is a good overview for the ways in which The Castle of Otranto relates to other Gothic novels and Bunten's interpretation suggests ways in which the novel can be read. 
  
Davison, Carol Margaret. "Getting their Knickers in a Twist: Contesting the 'Female Gothic' in Charlotte Dacre's Zofloya." Gothic Studies 11.1 (2009): 32-45. Print.

This article presents various forms of ‘Female gothic’ characters.  Primarily the text used is Zofloya, but there are many other references within the article to other prominent female characters in gothic writing.  The article establishes the trend among many gothic writings that females are weaker and unable to protect themselves for a variety of reasons.  Davison attempts to refute that claim, as well as demonstrate how such a fallacy should not be replicated in further treatments of the genre.
  
Frank, Marcie. "Horace Walpole's Family Romances. (Cover Story)." Modern Philology 100.3 (2003): 417. Academic Search Premier. Web. 29 Mar. 2012.

Marcie Frank examines incestuous relationships within The Castle of Otranto and The Mysterious Mother by Horace Walpole. Frank argues that Walpole's use of incest in these texts represent an attack on social position and his ambivalences about social position and authorship. She suggests that scholars of the nineteenth century have neglected these ambivalences and instead targeted Walpole's sexuality. This article discusses the sexual tensions of both the author and his works.


Gentile, Kathy Justice. "Sublime Drag: Supernatural Masculinity in Gothic Fiction." Gothic Studies 11.1 (2009): 16-31. Print.
Gentile presents this article, using Castle of Otranto as a primary text, as a means of visiting the masculinity in gothic fiction.  Specifically, she argues that many of the characters are cast in such a way as being sexually driven, lecherous, or simply mentally unstable.  Gentile further argues that it is for this reason that the villains are mostly men, and that gothic fiction allows people to explore the darker nature within themselves.  She argues that the genre has a place among literature for this value, and that it is more valuable than some fruitless venture into the darker parts of the psyche.

 Hamm, Robert B. “Hamlet and Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto.” SEL Studies in English Literature 1500-1900. 49.3 (2009) : 667-692. Web.

This article is an exploration into the connection between Shakespeare's Hamlet as performed in Restoration English theater and The Castle of Otranto. The author observes that the author's portrayal of terror through the characters is linked to the portrayal of terror by Hamlet as he greets his father's ghost. This means of conveying emotions througout the novel is a sign that Walpole was experimenting very broadly with conveying emotion to the reader. The article is useful as a reference for the historical context of the novel's publication and creation. 

Hogle, Jerrold E., and Andrew Smith. "Revisiting the Gothic and Theory an Introduction." Gothic Studies 11.1 (2009): 1-8. Print.

Jerrold Hogle discusses what it is to be a part of the gothic genre in this novel.  He cites many well known gothic works, including Castle of Otranto as good examples of the genre.  Hogle further goes on to argue against many critics of gothic fiction, outlining their arguments briefly and then attempting to refute their claims.  Hogle also discusses in some detail the development of gothic fiction.

Jung, Sandro. "A possible source for Horace Walpole's 'Otranto'." ANQ 19.2 (2006): 31+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 27 Mar. 2012.

Sandro Jung argues that The Castle of Otranto may be based on Croaxall's “The Secret History of Pythagoras” written earlier in the eighteenth century. Similar to Otranto, Croaxall wrote a preface claiming that his text was found rather than his original work. More importantly, Jung argues that Walpole's use of his preface allows for a degree of suspicion on Otranto as a work of either imitation or innovation, more likely as innovation. The article is brief and allows for the author to make the argument briefly. It can be used as a perspective on the origins of Otranto.

Mack, Ruth. "Horace Walpole and the Objects of Literary History." ELH 75.2 (2008): 367-387. Project MUSE. Web. 24 Mar. 2012.

Mack writes on the practice of historiography or historical writing and its role in The Castle of Otranto. Mack comments on critics that note Walpole's misrepresentation of history in Otranto and his other pursuits but dismisses them. Instead, Mack writes that the giant helmet and other objects are significant because they represent Walpole's concept that connection with historical objects is contact with the reality of history. Mack also discusses the significance of the “reality” of history to New Historicist critics. The article is an insight into the role of objects in The Castle of Otranto as well as the perspectives of the author and his critics. 
 

Masse, Michelle. “Gothic Repetition: Husbands, Horrors, and Things That Go Bump in the Night.” Signs , 15.4 (1990): 679-709. Web.

“Gothic Repetition” is an article giving psychological interpretation to the Gothic genre, particularly in terms of trauma endured by female protagonists. The Castle of Otranto is classified as a courtship Gothic. The author discusses both courtship Gothic, in which there is a marriage at the end in which the female protagonist's trauma is resolved, and marital Gothic, in which the protagonist's unresolved trauma is inflicted within marriage. The female protagonist's trauma in Gothic fiction is a result of her resistance to male authority, among other factors. This article is a good reference for the psychological interpretation of Gothic literature and female characters within Gothic.

Morrissey, Lee. ""To Invent in Art and Folly": Postmodernism and Walpoles Castle of Otranto." Bucknell Review 41.2 (1998): 86-. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 28 Mar. 2012.

Lee Morrissey links current Postmodernism to Gothic “folly” architecture of the eighteenth century and The Castle of Otranto. The Castle of Otranto represents the demise of the knowability of truth and was written, just as “follies” were constructed, to play on Enlightenment standards of truth and reason. This affect is achieve through distortion, through false perceptions of characters, and fraud on the part of the author. This article is a good reference for pseudo-medieval architecture and the themes of deception throughout The Castle of Otranto. 
Rigby, Mair. "Uncanny Recognition: Queer Theory's Debt to the Gothic." Gothic Studies 11.1 (2009): 46-57. Print.
Rigby presents many different homosexual themes in this article, as relating to gothic fiction.  She also presents the ideas of homophobic tendencies being equally present in gothic literature.  Mostly, the article doesn't deal specifically with sexual tendencies, but rather the social tendency of pleasing the same gender as one self.  The examples cited are those in Shakespeare's day, in which it was viewed as more respectable to have a high reputation among men if you were a man.  Also cited predominantly are gothic fiction works, including Manfred from The Castle of Otranto. 

Wein, T. "Tangled Webs: Horace Walpole and the Practice of History in the 'Castle of Otranto'." ENGLISH LANGUAGE NOTES 1998: 12-22. Print.

Wein presents in this article various reasons for the inclusion of certain aspects of Otranto.  Wein outlines historical details such as the inspiration for Manfred coming from the real life Manfred of Sicily.  Wein also shows how those historical details are present in the novel itself.
Walpole, Horace.  The Letters of Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford.  Project Gutenberg. Dec 2003.  Web.
The Letters of Horace Walpole is a book denoting exactly what the title states.  As such, it is mostly a historical record of his dealings with various people, in which he also defends Richard III and from which various famous Walpole quotes are pulled.  These letters help give the historical context and authorial context for his written works, as it is a look into the mind of the author from a non-scripted point of view, rather than a more formal writing such as a novel or short story.

Williams, Anne. "Monstrous Pleasures." Gothic Studies 2.1 (2000): 104. Academic Search Premier. Web. 29 Mar. 2012.

Much as Walpole first introduced The Castle of Otranto as a found and translated text, Anne Williams begins her paper with a synopsis of a “found” opera from Italy based on The Castle of Otranto. She does this to make the point that, like the opera, the Gothic novel was popular entertainment during the eighteenth century and to the elite represented the “monstrosity” of sexual and imaginative counterculture of the times. She also points out that The Castle of Otranto itself is written in the style of an opera seria. This article is a unique perspective, according to the author, on Otranto because it represents a first attempt at an interdisciplinary study of the book between literature and music. 

Williams, Anne. The Horror, the Horror: Recent Studies in Gothic Fiction. 46 Vol. , 2000. Print. 

Williams argues in her article that gothic fiction is useful to people as an outlet for a ‘monstrous otherness.’  She also outlines several studies of gothic works, citing other critics and giving an overview of their arguments.  Williams continues with her own, suggesting different psychological reasons for using gothic fiction, as well as outlining various forms of gothic operas that have their roots in Castle of Otranto.  She presents the opera in such a way in that it may be a ‘found’ text, much the same way that Walpole ‘found’ his novel.