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Review
"Excellent notes and solid introduction. A good example of the gothic mode, of use in an introduction to fiction or survey of the novel class."--Leslie G. Bailey, St. Martin's College
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
The Romance of the Forest (1791) heralded an enormous surge in the popularity of Gothic novels, in a decade that included Ann Radcliffe's later works, The Mysteries of Udolpho and The Italian. Set in Roman Catholic Europe of violent passions and extreme oppression, the novel follows the fate of its heroine Adeline, who is mysteriously placed under the protection of a family fleeing Paris for debt. They take refuge in a ruined abbey in south-eastern France, where sinister relics of the past - a skeleton, a manuscript, and a rusty dagger - are discovered in concealed rooms. Adeline finds herself at the mercy of the abbey's proprietor, a libidinous Marquis whose attentions finally force her to contemplate escape to distant regions. Rich in allusions to aesthetic theory and to travel literature, The Romance of the Forest is also concerned with current philosophical debate and examines systems of thought central to the intellectual life of late eighteenth-century Europe.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a thoroughly enjoyable book, full of intrigue, suspense, mystery and, as you'd expect, romance. Radcliffe's novels are masterpieces of suspense and atmosphere, but little else. The characters are interchangeable with any of her other novels, and the dialogue is fairly stock too, but this doesn't matter. The atmosphere around the old abbey in the woods, the curious circumstances and strange coincidences carry the story forward, and are very involving and exciting.
Anybody who enjoyed 'The Italian' or 'The Mysteries of Udolpho' will find more of the same fare here, and anybody who wants to read the kind of literary conventions Jane Austen was working for and against in 'Northanger Abbey' and 'Emma' will find them all in this novel.
Anybody who enjoyed 'The Italian' or 'The Mysteries of Udolpho' will find more of the same fare here, and anybody who wants to read the kind of literary conventions Jane Austen was working for and against in 'Northanger Abbey' and 'Emma' will find them all in this novel.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This was Ann Radcliffe's third novel and the book that gained her fame. Nowadays The Mysteries of Udolpho (Oxford World's Classics) is her most famous novel, primarily because of its being mentioned in 'Northanger Abbey'. Back in Radcliffe's day though, this novel was more enjoyed than than her next two novels. To a person nowadays it may be hard to get across how popular such a book as this was. The characters are mainly stock types that could be interchangeable with a whole plethora of gothic romances, and so are the situations. Lets be honest these gothic tales are all more or less the same, with some obvious exceptions. Mrs Radcliffe wrote tales that apart from 'Gaston de Blondeville', which was printed posthumously have natural and logical explanations for any kind of supernatural happenings, they are also full of coincidences. In effect this type of tale written here is a precursor of the 'Sensation Novels' that gripped 19th century England, which themselves are the precursors of todays mysteries and crime tales that are ever popular.
This tale is set in the 17th century and we follow Pierre de la Motte as he takes his wife and a couple of servants with him to escape the creditors and the laws of Paris. On his escape he has a young lady, Adeline foisted on him. Taking refuge in the forest of the title, they inhabit a partially dilapidated and uninhabited abbey. With Mrs de la Motte thinking that Adeline has her hooks into her husband, things become tense, but it is her son who fancies her. With the arrival of the Marquis de Montalt in the area things take a turn for the worse. After Adeline firstly in marriage, he then wants to have her killed, and he will take vengeance on de la Motte if he doesn't fall in with his plans. Montalt's assistant, Theodore is also in love with Adeline, which she reciprocates.
This is a tale full of cliffhangers, as one incident or occasion is finished, another pops up to take its place. Chloe Chard gives a good overview of gothic literature in her introduction, but I always think of Anna Letitia Aikin who back in the day had already found that our natural curiosity will keep us glued to a story if there is something unexplained going to happen just round the corner. If you are not into classic gothic romanticism then don't read this, you will either hate it, or become an instant fan.
This tale is set in the 17th century and we follow Pierre de la Motte as he takes his wife and a couple of servants with him to escape the creditors and the laws of Paris. On his escape he has a young lady, Adeline foisted on him. Taking refuge in the forest of the title, they inhabit a partially dilapidated and uninhabited abbey. With Mrs de la Motte thinking that Adeline has her hooks into her husband, things become tense, but it is her son who fancies her. With the arrival of the Marquis de Montalt in the area things take a turn for the worse. After Adeline firstly in marriage, he then wants to have her killed, and he will take vengeance on de la Motte if he doesn't fall in with his plans. Montalt's assistant, Theodore is also in love with Adeline, which she reciprocates.
This is a tale full of cliffhangers, as one incident or occasion is finished, another pops up to take its place. Chloe Chard gives a good overview of gothic literature in her introduction, but I always think of Anna Letitia Aikin who back in the day had already found that our natural curiosity will keep us glued to a story if there is something unexplained going to happen just round the corner. If you are not into classic gothic romanticism then don't read this, you will either hate it, or become an instant fan.
2 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Among the awful cartoons I used to watch as a child, `The Perils of Penelope Pitstop' The Penelope Pitstop Complete Collection [DVD] stood out as particularly pointless. Every episode would see the unfortunate Penelope trapped in a situation of mortal peril by her evil uncle/guardian, and she would yell `He-elp' until rescued.
Adeline, the beautiful and virtuous heroine of Romance of the Forest, reminded me forcibly of Penelope. She spends the book sighing, weeping and, above all, fainting. She also writes poetry about the beauty of nature and is the epitome of goodness, kindness, sweetness and gentleness. She is absolutely the most AWFUL soppy heroine I have ever had the misfortune to read about. I should have listened to Jane Austen; she despised these books, parodying them in Northanger Abbey.
Wuthering Heights is one of my favourite books, and I gave this a go thinking it fell roughly into the same category of `Gothic Romance'. It doesn't. It is a joke. I think it is possibly more cringe-worthy than the third Twilight film, which my daughter made me go and see.
Come to think of it, it was the same daughter who persuaded me to read `Romance of the Forest' - she must really hate me! I wonder did I forget her birthday once, or maybe it's just revenge for all those vegetables I forced her to eat!
I'm sure some people will enjoy this book; it is easy enough to read and has all the right basic ingredients; dark forests, deserted abbeys, evil Marquis', mysterious deaths etc. There is enough atmospheric descriptions of scenery and nature to put you off the great outdoors for life and you will need a stronger stomach than me for soppy, fainting heroines. If you are looking for something better in this line, why not try Wilkie Collins, the style is similar, but it's much better.
Adeline, the beautiful and virtuous heroine of Romance of the Forest, reminded me forcibly of Penelope. She spends the book sighing, weeping and, above all, fainting. She also writes poetry about the beauty of nature and is the epitome of goodness, kindness, sweetness and gentleness. She is absolutely the most AWFUL soppy heroine I have ever had the misfortune to read about. I should have listened to Jane Austen; she despised these books, parodying them in Northanger Abbey.
Wuthering Heights is one of my favourite books, and I gave this a go thinking it fell roughly into the same category of `Gothic Romance'. It doesn't. It is a joke. I think it is possibly more cringe-worthy than the third Twilight film, which my daughter made me go and see.
Come to think of it, it was the same daughter who persuaded me to read `Romance of the Forest' - she must really hate me! I wonder did I forget her birthday once, or maybe it's just revenge for all those vegetables I forced her to eat!
I'm sure some people will enjoy this book; it is easy enough to read and has all the right basic ingredients; dark forests, deserted abbeys, evil Marquis', mysterious deaths etc. There is enough atmospheric descriptions of scenery and nature to put you off the great outdoors for life and you will need a stronger stomach than me for soppy, fainting heroines. If you are looking for something better in this line, why not try Wilkie Collins, the style is similar, but it's much better.
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