![Book Cover of The Castle of Otranto](/image/book/the-castle-of-otranto.webp)
The Castle of Otranto
'The Castle of Otranto' Summary
The Castle of Otranto tells the story of Manfred, lord of the castle, and his family. The book begins on the wedding-day of his sickly son Conrad and princess Isabella. Shortly before the wedding, however, Conrad is crushed to death by a gigantic helmet that falls on him from above. This inexplicable event is particularly ominous in light of an ancient prophecy, "that the castle and lordship of Otranto should pass from the present family, whenever the real owner should be grown too large to inhabit it". Manfred, terrified that Conrad's death signals the beginning of the end for his line, resolves to avert destruction by marrying Isabella himself, while divorcing his current wife, Hippolita, who he feels has failed to bear him a proper heir due to the sickly condition of Conrad before his untimely death.
However, as Manfred attempts to marry Isabella, she escapes to a church with the aid of a peasant named Theodore. Manfred orders Theodore's death while talking to the friar Jerome, who ensured Isabella's safety at the church. When Theodore removes his shirt to be killed, Jerome recognizes a marking below his shoulder and identifies Theodore as his own son. Jerome begs for his son's life, but Manfred says Jerome must either give up the princess or his son's life. They are interrupted by a trumpet and the entrance of knights from another kingdom, who want to deliver Isabella to her father, Fredric, along with the castle, as Fredric has a stronger claim to it (another reason Manfred wishes to wed Isabella). This leads the knights and Manfred to race to find Isabella.
Theodore, having been locked in a tower by Manfred, is freed by Manfred's daughter, Matilda. He races to the underground church and finds Isabella. He hides her in a cave and blocks it to protect her from Manfred and ends up fighting one of the mysterious knights. Theodore badly injures the knight, who turns out to be Isabella's father, Frederic. With that, they all go up to the castle to work things out. Frederic falls in love with Matilda and he and Manfred make a deal about marrying each other's daughters. Frederic backs out after being warned by an apparition of a skeleton.
Manfred, suspecting that Isabella is meeting Theodore in a tryst in the church, takes a knife into the church, where Matilda is meeting Theodore. Thinking his own daughter is Isabella, he stabs her. Theodore is then revealed to be the true prince of Otranto as Matilda dies, leaving Manfred to repent. A giant ghostly form appears, declares the prophecy fulfilled and shatters the castle walls.
Manfred abdicates the principality and retires to religion along with Hippolita. Theodore becomes prince of the remains of the castle and is married to Isabella, for she is the only one who can truly understand his sorrow.
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
EnglishPublished In
1764Author
![Horace Walpole image](/thumbs/image/author/horace-walpole.webp)
Horace Walpole
Great Britain
Horatio Walpole, better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian and Whig politician. He had Stra...
More on Horace WalpoleDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
Related books
![The Smoking Leg and Other Stories Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/the-smoking-leg-and-other-stories.webp)
The Smoking Leg and Other Stories by John Metcalfe
It is a captivating collection of short stories that will transport young readers into a world of mystery, imagination, and adventure. Written by the...
![The Dunwich Horror Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/the-dunwich-horror.webp)
The Dunwich Horror by H. P. Lovecraft
"The Dunwich Horror" is a horror novella by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written in 1928, it was first published in the April 1929 issue of Weird...
![Here and Hereafter Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/here-and-hereafter.webp)
Here and Hereafter by Barry Pain
Here and Hereafter by Barry Pain is a thought-provoking and captivating book that delves into the mysteries of the afterlife. Published in 1911, this...
![A Christmas Carol Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/a-christmas-carol.webp)
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
“A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, biting, clutching, covetous old sinner” is hardly hero material, but this is exactly what makes A Christmas Carol b...
![Black Magic Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/black-magic.webp)
Black Magic by Marjorie Bowen
Witches, spells, ghosts, pacts with the Devil, occult rituals, love triangles, popes and the Anti-Christ are some of the ingredients of this chilling...
![The King in Yellow, Part 1 Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/the-king-in-yellow.webp)
The King in Yellow, Part 1 by Robert W. Chambers
The King in Yellow is a book of short stories by the American writer Robert W. Chambers, first published by F. Tennyson Neely in 1895. The book is nam...
![The House of Mystery Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/the-house-of-mystery.webp)
The House of Mystery by Richard Marsh
The House of Mystery is based upon the complicated plot involving two women who look exactly alike, one rich and one poor, and so mistaken identities...
![Our Lady of the Pillar Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/our-lady-of-the-pillar.webp)
Our Lady of the Pillar by José Maria de Eça de Queirós
In "Our Lady of the Pillar" by José Maria de Eça de Queirós, an enchanting tale of love, ambition, and societal intricacies unfolds against the backdr...
![The Marble Faun Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/the-marble-faun.webp)
The Marble Faun by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Marble Faun is Hawthorne's most unusual romance. Writing on the eve of the American Civil War, Hawthorne set his story in a fantastical Italy. The...
![War and Peace, Book 02: 1805 Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/war-and-peace-book-02-1805.webp)
War and Peace, Book 02: 1805 by Leo Tolstoy
War and Peace is an epic novel by Leo Tolstoy, first published from 1865 to 1869 in Russki Vestnik, which tells the story of Russian society during th...
Reviews for The Castle of Otranto
No reviews posted or approved, yet...