Samantha’s Gothic Lair!

So far, I’m upto chapter 4 but, I’m really enjoying it! Susan Hill has described the setting in so much depth and realistically that I can easily imagine the setting. Whereas, with The Castle of Otranto it was really difficult to associate the text with images. Susan Hill’s reference to a red room has be the most interesting part so far, I love the reference to Jane Eyre and how the red room in I’m King of the Castle also encapsulates so fear and death associations. Like Jane, Kingshaw is locked inside the red room but the interesting difference is that Kingshaw accepts that he’s been locked in and draws no attention to himself to get help, Jane on the other hand reacted completely differently.

Finally, I have managed to read The Castle of Otranto after a slow progression through the book, I found that especially at the beginning of the book it was very hard to become captivated by the story. At first, the sudden death of Conrad abrupt and hardly explained, that annoyed me. However, as the story progressed into the last couple of chapters, the story has become slightly more interesting with the revealed identity of Isabella’s Father and the unearthing of a few love ties. Although in comparison to The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde which I’ve nearly finished reading, The Castle of Otranto is very dull. Perhaps it’s the setting and the way Robert Louis Stevenson creates tension and mystery, as I believe they are far better constructed and explained in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde than in The Castle of Otranto. Nevertheless I can appreciate the fact that the novel can be presumed the first gothic novel considering the Walpole does touch upon such things as dreams, the subconsious mind and the supernatural.

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