Bay 12 Games Forum

Considered to be the first gothic novel, Otranto does indeed lay down many of the conventions of the genre. Walpole said his was an attempt to merge the too fanficul romance with the realism of the modern novel, and I feel he did an adequate job. There is a good amount of suspense in the story, however many of the supernatural elements seem more out of place than seemlessly merged. The giant helmet appears from nowhere with no explanation until late in the novel, the walking portrait seems similarly thrown in, although I must admit that the mere suggestion of ghosts was a significantly more effective element than any other. The plot moves along quickly, at the beginning far too quickly in fact, where every paragraph seems to introduce a major plot point, but as the novel progresses Walpole's skill in structuring it does as well, though his prose does not improve and casts the novel as one of the most didactic I've ever read.

The ending is bittersweet, mixing the tragic death of the most sympathetic, most virtuous, character with the revelation of the true hero's lineage and his union to a more realistically flawed, yet still kind, character. The villain ends in tragedy that destroys even those of his house, no matter how great their innocence, and the false hero is deprived both of his true desires, one of which was so great he was willing to forsake his honor. Thus, the novel ends justly, according to some ideas of what is just, with a hint of tragedy that leaves the reader properly unfulfilled, which indeed will become a staple of gothic romances. All told the book was quite good, especially for being so early a novel, and the biggest flaw I can see is the major mid-plot retcon that occurs at the beginning of chapter 3 and is presented as a twist. It's easy to forgive though, and perhaps even justify as a fault of inadequate foreshadowing, considering how burgeoning was the format when the book was written.