The Castle of Otranto (Legend Classics)

<b><i>&#147;He was persuaded he could know no happiness but in the society of one with whom he could for ever indulge the melancholy that had taken possession of his soul.&#148;</i></b></p><p><i>The Castle of Otranto</i> is a macabre tale that revolves around a haunted castle. Manfred the lord of Otranto finds his son Conrad smashed by an enormous helmet on his wedding day. It is soon revealed that according to an ancient ambiguous prophecy Conrads death might have been an ominous event that signifies the end of his lordship. To rectify the situation Manfred decides to marry his sons bride despite having a wife. Will Manfred plot succeed? Is he indeed a true prince of the castle?</p><p>Walpole got the inspiration for this bizarre story from a dream. He gave his novel a very authentic embellishment using the plan of Strawberry Hill castle for the set in the novel. He also went as far as to make a believable spoof in the Preface to the first edition that the novel was recovered and translated from an old Italian manuscript. Not as culturally present and talked about a title as other Gothic classics like <i>Frankenstein</i> or <i>Dracula</i> <i>Otranto</i> became the cornerstone text of the genre. The echoings of <i>Otranto</i> are even noticeable in more contemporary gothic tales such as Toni Morrisons <i>Beloved</i> where a building is more than a location but an entire mysterious entity in itself.</p><hr><p>The <i>Legend Classics</i> series:<br />Around the World in Eighty Days<br />The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn<br />The Importance of Being Earnest<br />Alices Adventures in Wonderland<br />The Metamorphosis<br />The Railway Children<br />The Hound of the Baskervilles<br />Frankenstein<br />Wuthering Heights<br />Three Men in a Boat<br />The Time Machine<br />Little Women<br />Anne of Green Gables<br />The Jungle Book<br />The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories<br />Dracula<br />A Study in Scarlet<br />Leaves of Grass<br />The Secret Garden<br />The War of the Worlds<br />A Christmas Carol<br />Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde<br />Heart of Darkness<br />The Scarlet Letter<br />This Side of Paradise<br />Oliver Twist<br />The Picture of Dorian Gray<br />Treasure Island<br />The Turn of the Screw<br />The Adventures of Tom Sawyer<br />Emma<br />The Trial<br />A Selection of Short Stories by Edgar Allan Poe<br />Grimm Fairy Tales<br />The Awakening<br />Mrs Dalloway<br />Gulliver&#146;s Travels<br />The Castle of Otranto<br />Silas Marner<br />Hard Times</p>