Ann Radcliffe Livres

Le plus sûr ennemi de la peur - la peur du surnaturel - n'est pas le héros que l'homme, en ses rêves, délègue pour l'affronter ; c'est la connaissance, dont la marche ininterrompue repousse toujours plus loin les frontières de l'inexplicable. Alors que, de siècle en siècle, l'homme perd sa capacité de s'effrayer de l'inexplicable, la peur elle aussi se civilise et les auteurs qui la manipulent en renouvellent les artifices. Ann Radcliffe soumet le cortège des événements terrifiants des Mystères du château d'Udolphe (1794) à l'usage de ce qu'on appelle aujourd'hui le suspense. En déchaînant le monstre créé par Frankenstein (1818), Mary Shelley remplace le surnaturel par la science dévoyée. Cannilla (1871) et Dracula (1897) concilient classicisme et modernisme en introduisant un redoutable passager clandestin, le vampire, dans les fissures de la mythologie chrétienne. Inspiré à Gustav Meyrink par une légende effrayante du ghetto juif de Prague, Le Golem (1915) introduit ou renouvelle, sous le signe de la connaissance interdite, les thèmes du double et du transfert de personnalité. En mettant les puissances infinies de l'ésotérisme au service de la peur, ce roman génial clôture par un véritable feu d'artifice la série d'explosions culturelles que ces cinq chefs-d'oeuvre ont provoquées dans les arsenaux vétustes de l'épouvante.

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The story revolves around a heroine plagued by mysterious sounds and terrifying legends, alongside her devoted attendant, Annette. Following her aunt's death, she escapes with the help of a fellow prisoner. Her journey home leads her to a chateau filled with eerie remnants, including an abandoned wing and a deathbed shrouded in darkness. Ultimately, she finds safety and happiness with her lover, Valancourt, after uncovering a secret that initially shrouded her origins in mystery.

The Earl is eager to share his impending freedom with the Baroness and express his love for Laura before he departs. The Baroness feels joy at the news of his escape, while Laura, initially caught up in happiness, soon grapples with the reality of losing Osbert and the pain of her own confinement. This emotional tension highlights the complexities of love and longing amid challenging circumstances.

In A Sicilian Romance (1790) Radcliffe began to forge the unique mixture of the psychology of terror and poetic description that would make her the great exemplar of the Gothic novel, and the idol of the Romantics. This early novel explores the cavernous landscapes and labyrinthine passages of Sicily's castles and convents to reveal the shameful secrets of its all-powerful aristocracy. Julia and Emilia Mazzini live secluded in an ancient mansion near the straits of Messina. After their father's return to the island a neglected part of the house is haunted by a series of mysterious sights and sounds. The origin of these hauntings is only discovered after a series of breathless pursuits through dreamlike pastoral landscapes. When revelation finally comes, it forces the heroines to challenge the united forces of religious and patriarchal authority

First published in 1797, THE ITALIAN is Ann Radcliffe's classic creation of Gothic romance. Set against the backdrop of the Holy Inquisition, the narrative revolves around a sinister and mysterious monk and two ill-fated lovers. With a new Introduction and updated notes, this edition examines the formal, historical, and political aspects of Radcliffe's most brilliant work.

A novel of mystery and suspense in the Gothic style, The Romance of the Forest was considered by contemporary critics to be her finest novel.

Set against the backdrop of the French countryside and the ominous Castle of Gorgono, the story follows Emily D'Orville, a young woman thrust into peril after losing her parents. Imprisoned by her malevolent uncle, she faces the threat of Signor Androssi and his dangerous associates. As she grapples with her separation from her true love, Angereau, Emily must uncover the secrets surrounding a terrifying veiled portrait within the castle. Will she find a way to escape or succumb to the darkness that surrounds her?

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`Her present life appeared like the dream of a distempered imagination, or like one of those frightful fictions, in which the wild genius of the poets sometimes delighted. Rreflections brought only regret, and anticipation terror.' Such is the state of mind in which Emily St. Aubuert - the orphaned heroine of Ann Radcliffe's 1794 gothic Classic, The Mysteries of Udolpho - finds herself after Count Montoni, her evil guardian, imprisions her in his gloomy medieval fortress in the Appenines. Terror is the order of the day inside the walls of Udolpho, as Emily struggles against Montoni's rapacious schemes and the threat of her own psychological disintegration. A best-seller in its day and a potent influence on Walpole, Poe, and other writers of eighteenth and nineteenth-century Gothic horror, The Mysteries of Udolpho remains one of the most important works in the history of European fiction. As the same time, with its dream-like plot and hallucinatory rendering of itscharacters' psychological states, it often seems strangely modern: `permanently avant-garde' in Terry Castle's words, and a profound and fascinating challenge to contemporary readers.