How Did Ann Radcliffes Life and Character Affect Her Works - Research Paper Example

Ann Radcliffe Introduction The public image of Ann Radcliffe as a mad genius contrasted sharply with her ordinary domesticated life and the question remains: how did Ann Radcliffe’s life and character affect her works? Ann Radcliffe was one of the most famous writers of Gothic romance in the late eighteenth century. She was also one of the least well known and reclusive writers of her times. Shy to a fault she had no close friends and very few acquaintances. Her life is quite a mystery. She suddenly stopped writing at the age of thirty-two after publishing five novels. Rumors abounded about her sudden death, her madness and melancholy in her last days but most have been proven false. In truth an ordinary housewife whose childlessness led her to write to relieve her boredom. Ann Radcliffe due to her reclusive nature was made the brunt of her contemporaries’ imagination and was accused of being a mad genius, a sorceress and a madwoman haunted by ghosts etc. Considered the most significant writer of the English Gothic genre, Ann Radcliffe changed the Gothic novel from a mere medium for the depiction of terror into a tool for exploring the psychology of terror and suspense. Her stress on emotion, insight, and the connection between atmosphere and sensibility helped make the way for the Romantic Movement in England. Radcliffes most famous novel, The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), is one of the principal examples of Gothic literature. (Onorato& Cengage, 1997)1 The Mighty Enchantress Ann Radcliffe was extremely popular in her day. Her application of Gothic techniques, her talent to rouse terror and curiosity in her readers by setting up events which were seemingly supernatural, but which were afterwards logically explained by ordinary means, was widely imitated by other writers but never surpassed. Her construction of tastefully imaginary horrors (taste was equal to quality) and her stress on the supernatural was modern and Romantic, whereas her logical explanations belonged to the ordered world of eighteenth century England. Thus her novels offered contemporary readers a chance to indulge their penchant for the bizarre, the outré and the unusual by generally hinting at the immoral, decadent and the supernatural while in due course rectifying matters ,from a societal viewpoint , by vindicating the old world virtues of a submissive woman. The nature of Ann Radcliffe’s novels was startling to her readers and she was reviled by some critics as a misleader of youth and women. But her admirers called her the mighty enchantress. Biography Ann Radcliffe was born in a lower-middle class family in Holborn, London. Her father was William Ward, a haberdasher and her mother was Ann Oates.troubled with asthma from youth, she was reserved by nature and read widely. In 1787, at the age of 22 she married William Radcliffe, later editor of the English Chronicle, who acknowledged her gift and encouraged her to start writing novels. Soon she became the most fashionable novelist of her generation in England. Her main aim was to be considered a Proper Lady Author but this was in direct conflict with the attitudes of her times in which a lady author was considered amoral and tarnished. Only females who needed monetary support wrote including Charlotte Smith and Jane Austen, etc In 1817, at the apex of her fame, Radcliffe withdrew completely from public life. Radcliffes essential disappearance set off rumors of a nervous breakdown and wild tales that she had died in a mad asylum, that her imitators were troubled by her ghost. These rumors, led to premature obituaries appearing in assorted newspapers. In truth she died on 7 February 1823 from respiratory problems and was buried in Saint Georges Church, Hanover Square in London. (Onorato& Cengage, 1997)2 Gothic Literature When the Gothic genre began in the eighteenth century, it was the social, political, and theological background of Europe at that time that served as impetus for this movement. The French Revolution, the popularity of secular-based government, and the continuously changing nature of the new world brought about by scientific advances and industrial development, in addition to an mounting aesthetic demand for realism instead of folklore and fantasy all added towards the growth of the literary gothic. Gothic literature addressed people’s anxiety over the change in social and political structure in the society. Gothic literature represented fears about what may possibly happen, what could possibly go wrong, and what might as well be lost by continuing along the course of political, societal, and theological revolution. It also reflected the desire to revisit to the time of fantasy and belief in paranormal intercession typical to the Middle Ages. Sometimes Gothic literature was also used to portray horrors that existed in the old socio-political order i.e. the evils of an unequal, bigoted society. Gothic literature was capable of both expressing the anxiety generated by societal turmoil and, increasing cultural approval and need for change and progress. The works of European writers especially Ann Radcliffe inspired a whole generation of writers such as Lewis, Edgar Allan Poe, Victor Hugo and Sir Walter Scott. Her villains like Schedoni in The Italian and, Montoni in The Mysteries of Udolpho contributed greatly to the development of later Byronic characters. Since its inception, Gothic literature has undergone several changes and variations, but its pivotal role as a medium of portraying mans deepest, darkest fears and dreadful evils both factual and imaginary has endured. (Bomarito & Cengage 2006) 3 Works Amongst Ann Radcliffe’s most famous works are A Romance of the Forest published in1791 and The Mysteries of Udolpho published in1794. In A Romance of the Forest the heroine, Adeline is described as exceptionally beautiful, attractive and shy. She is the convent-reared offspring of a man who, after the demise of his heiress-wife, has been assassinated by his brother, the Marquis de Montalt, for his riches. Adeline knows nothing about her true family and believes her uncle to be her father. When the uncle attempts to have her killed because she rejects the veil, her proposed murderers take pity on her and give her over to Pierre de la Motte, a man on the run from his creditors, to take away with him. She remains concealed with his relatives at a ruined abbey in the forest until he plots to hand her over to the murderous uncle who has designs on her virginity and subsequently on her life. She escapes with the aid of the chevalier Theodore Peyrou, who falls in love with her. When finally the villain is unmasked, her true parentage revealed and her inheritance is restored, Adeline weds Theodore. In The Mysteries of Udolpho Emily, who has been gently reared by her father at the peaceful estate, La Vallee, in southern France, is cast by circumstances out of her Eden of virtue into the world of evil and self-interest at urbane Venice and then at the dismal castle of Udolpho in the Apennines. Resolute, she never disintegrates in self-pity or misanthropy under her own trials and tribulations. However, Emily has excessive sensibility imagining ghosts, murders, and incredible horrors at every turn and attributing to Montoni (the villainous uncle) a more sinister personality than he actually has. Having escaped his control and returned to France, Emily discovers some important secrets in the past of her family and solves some of the mysteries of Udolpho. She acknowledges the moral shortcomings of her former beau Valancourt without losing her love for him. On realizing, that he has been simply rash and generous-natured rather than truly depraved, she marries him. (Blodgett, 1990)4 Comparing Adeline and Emily In The Mysteries of Udolpho, the female lead, Emily St Aubert, is incarcerated in an Apennines fortress by a cruel villain, Count Montoni, and at the mercy of her vivid imagination; In A Romance of the Forest, Adeline, having fled Paris and her uncle has taken refuge in a isolated abbey, encounters menacing relics and undergoes a desperate struggle to flee its owners scheming grip to incarcerate her and sell her to her uncle. Common to both novels is the heroines’ entrapment far from home and eventual escape to wedded bliss with the good male. The two works demonstrate two different types of heroines portrayed by the novelist at different times in her life. Adeline is portrayed as the perfect victim; her role is of the ideal gentle maiden of patriarchal myth with downcast eyes. Moreover, she is self-pitying and melancholic; characteristically "her spirits drooped, and she would often, when alone, weep at the forlornness of her condition” (Radcliffe). Inclined to cry and faint she weeps increasingly as the book proceeds even as Emily sheds tears less and less as her story proceeds. Although both heroines find the nerve to run away from their jailers when their conditions become critical and both are courageous enough to explore secret places to satisfy their curiosity, it is Emily, who is the constant sleuth and only once does Adeline check out a secret room. Adeline shows real initiative only When Theodore is wounded and she doubts the physician who tends him and finds him a better doctor. Otherwise, whereas Emily seeks for solutions within her reach and does not need male help, Adeline is resigned to her fate and relies on the male protagonists to come and save her. (Blodgett, 1990)5 Influence in early life and work The major influences in Ann Radcliffe’s lives were in the form of her uncles and aunts rather than her parents. She was the only child and her mother was around thirty-eight years old when she was born. Ann Radcliffe was herself childless and there is no mention of children in any of her novels. Sent to live with her Uncle Bentley at an early age Ann only saw her parents after long intervals and was mostly a resident at Her Uncle Bentley’s house. Here she lived at first with Bentley’s sister- in- law and her Aunt Elizabeth and later a step aunt. The theme of abandonment and early orphaning is seen throughout her novels with most of her heroines being orphaned and or abandoned by relatives. Her relationship with her father was also cold and formal, and she was brought up very strictly. Accordingly Ann was stiff and formal in company and her heroines also lack the skills of social repartee usually being shy to fault such as Adeline in A Romance of the Forest. Her Uncle Bentley with his love of art and paintings and his interest in poetry also influenced Ann to a great degree. Her description of the scenery is based mostly on artistic landscapes especially the paintings of Salvatore Rosa. Bentley also shared the Unitarian beliefs of the Jebbs (another influence on Ann’s life).La Luc’s character in A Romance of the Forest is most likely based on Bentley. La Luc has Unitarian belief in the Supreme Being; he loses his wife and receives his sister-in-law into his household all similar to Bentley. Ann Radcliffe supposedly spent a majority of her youth visiting her relatives and these most probably included her uncles Dr Jebb, Dr Halifax and Dean Jebb. Her association with the Jebbs also strengthened her Unitarian and egalitarian tendencies; her novels celebrated the honor of honesty over the honor of birth. Valancourt in The Mysteries of Udolpho could be the characterization of a liberal dissenter. All the servants adore him as he is courteous to all and quite unlike regular aristocrats. (Norton, 1999)6 Influence in later life Many parallels can be drawn between the changing views of the author and her heroines. Her Adeline in A Romance of the Forest is a typical eighteenth century female. She is shy, helpless and dependent on the males in her life to rescue her and provide for her. Thus Ann is projecting and promoting the idealized female of her times in the character of Adeline, but with the advent of feminism and the influence of writers like Mary Wollenscroft awareness had grown of feminine right to be thought as independent and thinking human beings. This presumably led to a change in the author’s viewpoint of acceptable female behavior which in turn influenced the character of Emily in The Mysteries of Udolpho Emilys portrayal is dissimilar to Adeline in many ways. Emily is allowed a more intelligent mind and feisty independence than is normally granted to her contemporaries. The character of Emily confirms womens sagacity and right to respect for their reliability and intelligence rather than adoration for their looks. Furthermore she is no weak female, while only Ellen Moers in Literary Women has done Emilys force justice in asserting that Radcliffes "idea of female selfhood” is "the traveling woman: the woman who moves, who acts, who copes with vicissitude and adventure.” Moers astutely distinguishes Radcliffes use of the Gothic as a feminine alternate for the male picaresque that permitted her "to send maidens on distant and exciting journeys without offending the proprieties.” Similarly, inside castles "her heroines can scuttle miles along corridors, descend into dungeons, and explore secret chambers without chaperone, because the Gothic castle . . . is . . . an indoor and therefore freely female space” (Moers, 1976)7 As Coral Ann Howells says about Emily: “Everything in her make-up is an exaggeration of those negative responses (anxieties related to isolation, dependence and sexual fears) which were often the only ones available to the late eighteenth century woman who wished to preserve her own individuality” (Howells, 1995) 8. Certainly as an intelligent and well read woman of her times Ann Radcliffe suffered from the anxieties and problems faced by her fellow females. She used the Gothic to exaggerate and point those fears and forbidden desires experienced by the cloistered females of her era. Yet Ann Radcliffe does not put forward an alternative to patriarchal culture but rather retreats into idealization. Spencer describes A Romance of the Forest, for example, as a "fantasy of female power, through which women could escape in imagination from the reality of their oppression” (Spencer1986)9. Even Udolpho, concludes with Radcliffes statement that she will be content if her book "has, by its scenes, beguiled the mourner of one hour of sorrow, or, by its moral, taught him to sustain it.” (Radcliffe, 1791)10 This comment can be seen as the embodiment of Ann Radcliffes own submissive acceptance of her misery; having repudiated the challenge of her own inner world, she urges the same on others. Ann Radcliffe is no activist for womens liberation. Nevertheless she gives one some sense of the immense number of women of her day who were neither radicals nor slaves but instead had learned to adjust themselves to a patriarchal culture without yielding their belief in essential female worth.(Sherman 1980)11 It is not just her heroines who journey; the villains, the heroes, and other main characters like the aunt also travel. All this progress gives Ann Radcliffe frequent opportunities to describe scenery, which is in the main sublime or romantic, and its influence on the various characters. She was very much a student of Edmund Burkes philosophy of the sublime and her standard heroine in distress shows a relationship with sentimental novelists such as Charlotte Smith, however her most direct literary influence can be found in the Gothic novels of Horace Walpole Conclusion Sherman believes that Radcliffe uses the Gothic novel to express her repressed discontent with her repressed middle-class womanly life. Ann Radcliffe was brought up according to the strictest canon of contemporary female education, a restraining, moralistic code that denied womans autonomy. Marriage reinforced that dependency which she was so undecided about but so did the entire eighteenth century culture in its every feature. Restraint must surely have raised resentment and in her writings; Ann Radcliffe reveals her feelings of unrest, ambivalence, ardor, hostility, and rebellion. In fact the whole range of her awakened unconscious desires which were impossible for her to admit or act upon in her world. (Sherman, 1980)12 Reference: 1&2. Mary L. Onorato. Vol. 55. Gale Cengage, 1997. eNotes.com. 2006. Accessed on13 April, 2009 3. Ed. Jessica Bomarito & Gale Cengage, “Introduction” Gothic Literature eNotes.com. 2006. < http://www.enotes.com/gothic-literature/gothic-literature-an-overview Accessed on 14 April, 2009 4&5. Harriet Blodgett, Emily Vindicated: Ann Radcliffe and Mary Wollstonecraft Weber Journal, Fall 1990, Volume 7.2 Read More