Romance of the Forest finally became interesting in the second half of the book. I can't believe that the Marquis really just wanted to kill Adeline the whole time. The adventure of Adeline to meet La Luc and travel with them is classic female Gothic Literature as the heroine usually goes on a journey. She also has the chance to save Theodore and does with her elevated status. The last 50 pages was almost a whirlwind as everything is revealed. The events leading up to the climax were much more heightened than in Castle of Otranto. It was interesting to see that even after she obtained all her money, Adeline was a different kind of aristocrat. Since she came from nothing, she was not obsessed with money, but used it to help others and it was not her primary aim in life. However, Romance of the Forest, like all good Gothic novels, ends with a marriage, since that is considered the end of a woman's life.
Romance of the Forest is definitely more developed than Castle of Otranto. The plot development took longer and it read more like a novel from today. However, paraphrasing was in quotes and there was no separation of paragraphs when a character spoke, demonstrating the novel still has a while to evolve into what it is today. Romance of the Forest does have heightened passions and supernatural elements, but they are more subdued than in Castle of Otranto, and most of them are explained after they happen. I am interested to see how this book will compare to Northranger Abbey.
No comments:
Post a Comment