Ann Radcliffe
I Misteri Di Udolpho

The apotheosis of the Gothic novel, or Gothic novel, reached its height in 1794 with the publication of "The Mysteries of Udolpho" by Ann Radcliffe (1764-1823), already famous for Gothic novels like The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne and The Forest of Peril, followed by The Italian. Little is known about Radcliffe, much of it told to us by accounts from her husband William Radcliffe and the historical novelist Walter Scott, who speaks of her in enthusiastic terms. This has made the aura of mystery even more interesting both to contemporary readers (the book literally flew off the shelves) and to the modern reader.

"The Mysteries of Udolpho" presents everything that characterizes the quintessential Gothic novel: the setting in a Catholic country (seen as barbaric for the horrendous religious crimes committed over the centuries, for the prejudices against Protestantism and in stark opposition to classicism), a medieval or anyway Gothic building like the castle of Udolpho, a sense of mystery that pervades at the crucial points of the novel, a general superstition expressed by the characters and a series of events considered supernatural. Perhaps the most personal characteristic of Radcliffe's writing is that everything that seems supernatural finally finds a logical and rational explanation, giving the novel an underlying realism.

At the center of the story is Emily St. Aubert, a typical Gothic heroine and a stereotype of the late 18th-century good character, sensitive (even overly so), a victim of the situations she finds herself in after her father's death, but above all extremely naive. The reactions of the novel's heroine are exaggerated, both in her relations with the valiant Valancourt and throughout her stay at the castle of Udolpho, located in the Apennines, between Tuscany and the territory of the Republic of Venice. On the other side, there is the wicked Montoni, the prototype of the villain, a cruel and deceitful individual with a black and irredeemably ruthless soul, and his gang of shady marauders: the cunning Cavigni, the violent Verezzi, the dull Bertolini, the shady Orsino, the desperate enemy Count Morano.

The novel is a product of its time: landscape descriptions perhaps a little too long and detailed, the pleasure these landscapes bring the characters is somewhat exaggerated, as are the characters' reactions (Emily cries at least a hundred times throughout the novel). Anachronisms are not lacking, such as the blunder mentioning the Milan Cathedral still under construction (in reality already completed in 1584, the year in which the novel is set) or the reference to condottieri, or mercenary captains, mostly active in the 14th and 15th centuries rather than the 16th century. Moreover, the innumerable citations of verses from authors like Shakespeare and Milton or others unidentified and unknown to us now, or the sonnets composed and inserted in the novel by Radcliffe herself, weigh down the fluidity of the narrative.

Despite all that, the work is remarkable if not downright masterful: beyond an engaging plot and mysterious descriptions, there are above all external narrative techniques (characters, settings, situations) expertly mixed with some internal ones (feelings, thoughts, and emotions of the characters themselves), creating excellent stimuli for the reader's imagination.

Some questions "torment," so to speak, the reader from beginning to end: what happened to Mrs. Laurentini? For God's sake, what does the infamous black veil hide that's so horrible? What mysteries lie behind the story of the Marchioness of Villeroi? Where does the ghostly music come from that is heard at night in the woods of Languedoc? Radcliffe's great mastery lies in keeping the reader in suspense until the very last pages of the book, revealing everything in a brilliant manner with a deliciously narrated resolution.

Udolpho will later be mentioned by many writers like Henry James, Herman Melville, Dostoevsky, and it had a great influence on Jane Austen in "Northanger Abbey." It therefore had a significant impact on 19th-century literature, more than is thought today. In its genre, "The Mysteries of Udolpho" was an authentic stroke of genius.