The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794)

The Mysteries of Udolpho: A Romance is a Gothic novel by Ann Radcliffe, which appeared in four volumes on 8 May 1794 from G. G. and J. Robinson of London. Her fourth and most popular novel, The Mysteries of Udolpho tells of Emily St. Aubert, who suffers misadventures that include the death of her mother and father, supernatural terrors in a gloomy castle, and machinations of Italian brigand Signor Montoni. It is often cited as an archetypal example of the Gothic novel.

The popularity of The Mysteries of Udolpho helped cement the Gothic novel as a distinct genre, and has inspired many imitators since publication. It was a notable point of reference in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, which both satirises and pays homage to Gothic literature.

Plot

Volume 1

In 1584, Emily St. Aubert is the only child of a landed rural family in Gascony. Emily and her father share a close bond over their shared appreciation for nature. Overwhelmed with grief after the death of her mother, they take a journey for M. St. Aubert's health through the Pyrenees to the coast of Roussillon, over many mountainous landscapes. During the journey, they encounter Valancourt, a handsome man who also feels a kinship with the natural world. Emily and Valancourt fall in love. While staying in a rural village in Languedoc, Emily's father dies and is interred at the nearby monastery of St. Claire. Emily's curiosity is piqued by her father's apparent familiarity with the monastery and a purportedly haunted manor nearby.

Upon returning to her home in La Vallée, Emily fulfills her father's dying wishes by destroying some hidden documents whose contents shock her. She also finds a miniature portrait of an unknown woman, which she once witnessed her father cry over. Now orphaned, Emily's guardianship falls to her aunt, Madame Cheron, who shares none of Emily's interests and shows little affection for her. While in her household in Toulouse, Emily and Valancourt become engaged, but at their intended wedding Madame Cheron marries Montoni, a dubious nobleman from Italy. Montoni moves the family to his home in Venice, interrupting Emily and Valancourt's courtship and promoting the suit of his friend Count Morano instead. After discovering that Count Morano is not as wealthy as he seems, Montoni brings Emily and her aunt to his remote castle of Udolpho.

Volume 2

Udolpho is an inhospitable environment, where Montoni is gathering condottieri for a violent scheme. Emily is frequently frightened by strange sounds and sights, and a mysterious door in her bedroom. Emily and Madame Montoni's servant, Annette, become aware of a room with a black veil drawn over something. Annette recounts a ghost story about the former owner of the castle, Signora Laurentini di Udolpho, whose mysterious disappearance allowed Montoni to acquire the castle. Later, Emily lifts the black veil out of curiosity, and is traumatized by what she sees. Count Morano tries to abduct Emily from Udolpho through a secret passage leading to her bedroom's mysterious door. He is discovered by Montoni, who wounds the Count and chases him away. In subsequent months, Montoni threatens his wife, trying to force her to sign over her properties in Toulouse to him. Someone attempts to poison Montoni; he accuses Madame Montoni and imprisons her in a turret. There, she dies of a severe illness, and Emily inherits her property.

Volume 3

Montoni now harasses Emily to sign the estate over to him, employing a range of tricks and threats. Eventually, Emily manages to flee with the help of Annette and Annette's lover, Ludovico. While escaping, they free a prisoner, Du Pont, who was a neighbour of Emily, as well as a secret admirer of hers. Making their way to the coast, they board a ship bound for Marseille.

Volume 4

The ship is wrecked at Languedoc near the village where Emily's father died. They are taken in by Count de Villefort and his family at Chateau-le-Blanc, a manor rumoured to be haunted. Emily befriends the daughter, Blanche. Emily is invited by the abbess of the monastery to board at the convent and she divides her time between the monastery and the chateau. Valancourt arrives, but fears that he has become unworthy of Emily's love. Count de Villefort privately informs Emily that while Valancourt was in Paris, he became a degenerate gambler: he associated with a woman of poor morals, cheated at cards, and lost much of his wealth. Horrified, Emily rejects Valancourt; equally distraught, he leaves.

The Chateau-le-Blanc housekeeper, Dorothée, continually compares Emily's appearance to the former lady of the chateau, the Marchioness de Villeroi, and realises that she is depicted in the miniature that Emily kept from her father's items. When Dorothée takes Emily to see a larger picture of the lady in a closed-off section of the chateau, a ghostly figure rises from the bed and they flee in terror. After the rest of the household hears of the encounter, Ludovico volunteers to spend the night in the room to disprove the existence of any ghost. The next morning, Ludovico has vanished.

Emily returns to Toulouse and establishes herself as the new owner of her aunt's estate. She thinks she sees Valancourt walking in her garden. Another night, the gardener shoots an apparent robber, who was not caught but left behind blood; Emily is despondent that Valancourt may have been killed.