The Castle of Otranto

The internet tells me that The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole is the first gothic novel, and in true gothic form it's an extremely theatrical read. From the very first page, Walpole wastes no time—he has us running at full speed into the middle of the action (a wedding day, no less) without any formal introductions.

There's playfulness veiled in the dark and frightening events that the characters are experiencing which pushes the absurd even further: the prince dies from a giant helmet falling on him from the sky, there's giant armored limbs all over the castle, etc etc.

Also, men are just gross in this old-timey world.  Manfred is pretty rapey in his pursuit of Isabella, not to mention his easy dismissal of Hippolita in order get his mitts on the newer, younger girl.  But he's not the only gross one. Frederic, nice as he is, also fell in love with Matilda who is his own damn daughter's age. Ugh why are old men so creepy.  On the other hand, the women are on the total other side of the spectrum, acquiescing to everyone else's needs and putting their feelings first (in Matilda's case, all the way to her dying breath).  #TimesUp, ladies.

It seems unfair that Isabella should be saved and Matilda sacrificed, but I guess it shakes out that the main point of all of the bad things that happened was for Manfred to suffer.  I was quite surprised that he cared at all that Matilda died though, to be honest.  I guess he was human after all.