Xiu Mei Lin
Professor Hershinow
November 1, 2016
English 4210

The Curse

          The first Gothic novel “The Castle of Otranto” written by Horace Walpole was published in 1764. The novel opens with an introductory of prince Manfred’s family and that he tries to arrange his son, Conrad to marry with Vicenza’s daughter Isabella. But eventually Conrad was crushed to death by a gigantic hamlet. This draws a similar connection with Edmund Burke’s explanation of sublime, “from a philosophical enquiry into the origin of our ideas of the sublime and beautiful” in 1759. It states “the ideas of pain, and danger, that is to say, whatever is in any sort terrible, or is conversant about terrible objects or operates in a manner analogous to terror, is a source of the sublime” (Burke131). In other words, sublime is the opposite of beauty, it gives character the feeling of excitement in horror when they see a specific object. For instance, when Manfred saw the hamlet he states, “a hundred times more large than any casque ever made for human being, and shaded with a proportional quantity of black feathers” (28). This is significant but less pointed, the helmet’s physical appearance “quantity of black feathers” rather than other color but it present as “black” which can both be comparable to a crow and the nature. The crow in our imagery, is that these specie appears in non-beautiful environment. Additionally, the helmet have given out negative energy and it may represents the cruse towards Manfred that he is in danger because the helmet it so unique and it’s beyond human creation, it can represent a punishment of the nature rather than the beauty side of the nature. Since the helmet was met to kill Manfred son, this object brings a physiological effects to Manfred that also creates an overwhelming imagery in his mind which leads him to take evil actions. Manfred said “I cannot give you my son, I offer you myself” (34). When he tries divorce with Hippolita and married Isabella to produce a male heir, so that he could protect his power in the castle and continues his blood line. Also the source states “when danger or pain press too nearly, they are incapable of giving any delight…but at certain distances, and with certain modifications, they may be, and they are delightful.” (Burke 131). Like Manfred, he represents “delight” more than pleasure whereas in this case delight means feeling from painful to pleasure and pleasure stays as feeling good. Overall, the primary source clarify the understanding of the meaning of sublime where the helmet present as an evil object that cause Manfred to shows his feeling of excitement in terror.

Works Cited

Edmund, Burke. From a philosophical enquiry into the origin of our ideas of the sublime and beautiful (1759). Print.

Walpole, Horace. The Castle of Otranto. New York: Dover Publications, 2004. Print.