Lesson Notes By Weeks and Term - Senior Secondary School 2

SUBJECT: LITERATURE-IN-ENGLISH

CLASS:  SS2

DATE:

TERM: 3RD TERM

REFERENCES

• She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith.
• Exam Reflection Literature- in-English by Sunday OlatejuFaniyi.
• Exam Reflection Literature-in-English (Prose and Drama) by Sunday OlatejuFaniyi.  
• The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole. 

WEEK NINE

CHARACTERISATION AND THEMES IN THE WORK

• Manfred — the lord of the Castle of Otranto. He is the father of Conrad and Matilda, and the husband of Hippolita. After his son is killed by the falling helmet, he becomes obsessed with the idea of ending his marriage with Hippolita in pursuit of the much younger Isabella, who was supposed to marry his son. Manfred serves as the prime antagonist of the novel; he is the dictatorial ruler and father that drives the plot forward in a depiction of deranged cruelty visited upon his children.[2]
• Hippolita — the wife of Manfred and the mother of Conrad and Matilda. After having lost her son, she is left with just Matilda to combat the tyrannical turn of mind that her husband displays. Manfred intends to divorce her due to her sterility and on the grounds that their marriage is in fact false because they are actually related. Faced with the threat of divorce, Hippolita is mournful yet submissive to the wills of her husband. She acts as a sort of enabler to her husband, putting aside her morals and happiness so that her husband can get what he wants.
• Conrad — the fifteen-year-old son of Manfred and Hippolita and the younger brother of Matilda. In the first pages of the novel, he is crushed by a giant helmet on his way to his wedding with Isabella.
• Matilda — Matilda is the daughter of Hippolita and the oppressive Manfred. She falls in love with Theodore, much to her chagrin since it is a love unsanctioned by her parents. Upon the appearance of Frederic, things become even more complicated as Frederic lusts after Matilda. She serves as the forbidden woman, a facet of Gothic literature.[3] Frederic and Manfred make plans to swap their daughters in marriage, crushing Matilda's hope of being with Theodore. At the end of the novel, she is mistakenly stabbed by her father.
• Isabella — the daughter of Frederic and the fiancée of Conrad (at the beginning of the novel). After the death of Conrad, she makes it clear that, although she did not love Conrad, she would have far preferred being betrothed to him rather than his father, who pursues her throughout the novel. Isabella and Matilda have a brief argument concerning the fact they both have feelings for Theodore. After the death of Matilda, Theodore settles for Isabella and the two become the lord and lady of the castle.
• Theodore — at the beginning of the novel, Theodore appears to be a mere minor character, whose role is purely to point out the significance of the helmet as a link to the fulfillment of the prophecy. However, he emerges as a main character after Manfred orders him to be imprisoned within the helmet for his insolence and he escapes, only to help Isabella escape from the castle through a trapdoor. He is revealed later in the novel to be the lost son of Friar Jerome. Theodore proceeds to protect Isabella from the wanton lust of Manfred. He captures the hearts of both Isabella and Matilda, but settles for Isabella after Matilda's death. He also later goes on to rule the Castle of Otranto.
• Friar Jerome — the friar at the monastery near the Castle of Otranto. Manfred attempts to manipulate him into both supporting his plan to divorce his wife and persuading his wife to go along with this plan. It is later discovered that he is Theodore's father.

Frederic — the long-lost father of Isabella who appears late into the novel. He opposes     Manfred at first, until he settles on a deal to marry Matilda.

• Bianca — the servant of Matilda who serves as a comic relief of the otherwise highly melodramatic novel.
• Diego and Jaquez — these two, like Bianca, are other servants within the Castle of Otranto.

THEMES IN THE WORK

1. Lust for power.
2. Patriarchal dominance.
3. Incest
4. Crime and punishment
5. Secular power vs spiritual power.
6. Tyranny
7. Inheritance
8. Love

The Elements of a Gothic Novel in "The Castle Of Otranto"

1. Setting in a castle: The story "The Castle of Otranto" takes place in and around lord Manfreds' castle which is filled with secret passages.
   It states in the summary that it "tells the story of Manfred, lord of the castle, and his family." Assuming that he is the protagonist the setting would presumably take place near his homestead also by looking the title itself tells the reader that a castle will be involved.
2. An atmosphere of mystery and suspense
   The story "The Castle of Otranto" created a sense of mystery and suspence when a gigantic helmentunexpectingly falls from overhead killing Conrad, the lord of the castles only heir.
   This is when tensiontension begins to build up within the story causing the next elements of a gothic novel to come into play.
3. An ancient prophecy
   There's an ancient prophecy within the story that goes " The castle and the lordship of Otranto should pass from the present family, whenever the real owner should be grown too large to inhabit it".
4. Omens, Portents, visions
   After the lords son Conrad died a gruesome death, Manfred began to fear for the end of his families line and blamed his wife for providing him with an unsuited heir. Soon after heinvisions that his sons fiancee could provdie him with the son he needs to keep the continuation of hisfamilys wealth and name.
5. High, even overwrought emotions

Manfred went to a church with the intentions of mudering Isabella, the woman who denies to marry him.
As he gets to the church he suspects that his own daughter is Isabella and stabs her. It is at this point that the Manfred shows sincre regret about his wrong doing.

1. Woman in distress
   Isabella was Conrads betrothed. Since his passing she was put in a situation where not only was shedevestated of her lovers passing but, she would now be forced to marry the man she expected to once be her father in law. 
2. Women threatened by a powerful, impulsive, tyrannical male
   Marrying Manfred absolutely disgusted her therefore she ran from the castle. She fleed to the church while fearing her own life hoping they could help her from being forced into a marrige she dissaproved of. After being promised protection she is still not entirely safe seeing as Manfred is out looking for her inhopes of murdering her.
3. The mystery of gloom and horror
   Characters trapped in a room
4. The vocabulary of the gothic

EVALUATION QUESTIONS

1. Describe Matilda and Theodore as characters.
2. Discuss the theme of patriarchal dominance in the novel.

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENTSECTION A

INSTRUCTION: Answer all questions

1. A character that develops in the course of a novel or play is described as A. flat. B. antagonist.C. round.D. protagonist.
2. A dirge is poem sung A. to send a child to sleep. B. to make workers happy. C. at a birthday party. D. at a funeral.
3. In drama, the ____________ creates humour. A. hero B. clown C. villain D. chorus
4. ‘Let me not love thee if I love thee not’ illustrates A. metaphor. B. proverb. C. paradox. D. meiosis.
5. _________ is a literary device used to express something unpleasant in a more acceptable way. A. Epilogue B. Epigram C. Euphemism D. Eulogy.

SECTION B

Discuss the setting of Castle of Otranto.