The Mysteries of Udolpho

About This Book

Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho is a quintessential Gothic romance that follows Emily St. Aubert, a young woman who is forced to endure a series of harrowing trials and seemingly supernatural terrors after being orphaned and taken to the desolate Castle of Udolpho in the Apennines. The novel is celebrated for its use of "explained supernatural," where frightening and mysterious events are eventually revealed to have rational causes, all while exploring themes of sensibility, the sublime, and the psychological effects of isolation.