Mary Ann Radcliffe
1746? - after 1810
Ann Radcliffe lived such an
uneventful life that it is reported that one admirer of her work gave up the
idea of writing her biography due to a lack of material. Although her success
could have gained her entry into the most fashionable social circles, she
shunned the limelight, prefering to sit quietly at
home. However, she had an immense influence on English novels which lasted for
decades. Her stories are generally classified as gothic novels, and her writing
style has been described as "word painting". Her novel The Italian is regarded by some to be
the best gothic novel ever written.
Radcliffe was born the year The Castle of
Otranto, considered to be the first gothic novel, was published. She was
the only child of William and Ann Ward, and had a rather isolated childhood.
The details of her education are unknown, but her parents both had connections
in the prefessional class of England, so she appears
to have been exposed to what was considered to be the cultured and artistic
society of the day. She married William Radcliffe in 1787. William was an
Oxford graduate who was studying law at the time of their marriage, but he soon
abandoned his studies to become the editor of the English Chronicle. William worked very long hours in this new position, and Ann began to write to pass the time while he
was away. Her literary career lasted less than ten years. Some speculate that
she quit writing after her parents died, resting on the laurels of her success
and her inheritance. In reality it probably had more to do with the fact that
later in life she suffered from spasmodic asthma.
Like most authors of gothic novels, Radcliffe chose France and Italy as the
settings of her stories. Sitting alone by the fire, pen in hand, she created
incredibly detailed descriptions of places she had never been. The pictures she
drew of the France and Italy of the time were not particulary
accurate, but she described her settings in such carefully exquisite detail
that her readers were more than willing to suspend disbelief. But just as
important as describing a mysterious and vaguely sinister scene, was the well
developed main character, a virgin heroine far from home and unprotected, who experiences
all manner of terrifying and apparently supernatural occurances.
I say apparently because by the end of the story, Radcliffe would explain away
all of these events as natural phenomena or a deliberate creation of man.
Anyone who has seen an episode of Scooby-Doo should find the end of a Radcliffe
novel very familiar. Characters who were recently scared out of their minds by
some apparition can suddenly explain the occurence in a perfectly rational manner.
Although her career as a
novelist was short, Radcliffe had a lasting influence on English fiction. As late as 1840 authors still
used references to her novels in their own stories. She had many
imitators, but the secret to her success was simply that she was a better
writer than most of the people producing gothic fiction in her day. As always,
success brought criticism as well. Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey was more or less a satire of gothic fiction,
and contained many references to The
Mysteries of Udolpho. Austen also used
references to The Romance of the
Forest in Emma to help
develop the somewhat ignorant and impressionable character of Harriet Smith.
But even Austen's less than flattering references to her writing are an
indication of the enduring influence of Radcliffe's work.
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Academic year
2008/2009
© a.r.e.a./Dr.Vicente Forés López
© Mar Amorós Portero
aporma@alumni.uv.es
Universitat de Valčncia Press