The Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story and The Mysterious Mother Book

Walpole really didn't do much for me in terms or plot or writing style and there wasn't a single character I liked in this novel (novella?). There are, however, quite a few things of literary value in this book: one, it is one of the earliest examples of the Gothic genre and I can certainly appreciate the Gothic conventions that Walpole explores, and two, the novel provides an incredibly subtle yet astute commentary on the commodification of women and the extent to which they themselves are alienated from their sense of human agency. Hippolita, though unlikeable in my opinion, is an astoundingly interesting character who is so far gone in the misogynistic dynamics of her marriage that she often willingly submits herself to being commodified under the patriarchal, tyrannical rule of her husband.

I had to read this book for my Austen class as a work of comparison to Northanger Abbey, and I'm excited to see how this comparative reading plays out; perhaps the former will have added value to me once I read the latter.