Ann Radcliffe (née Ward; 9 July 1764 – 7 February 1823) was an English novelist and a pioneer of
Gothic fiction
Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror in the 20th century, is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name is a reference to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of ea ...
. Her technique of explaining apparently
supernatural
Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...
elements in her novels has been credited with gaining respectability for
Gothic fiction
Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror in the 20th century, is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name is a reference to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of ea ...
in the 1790s.
[The British Librar]
Retrieved 12 November 2016.
/ref> Radcliffe was the most popular writer of her day and almost universally admired; contemporary critics called her the mighty enchantress and the Shakespeare of romance-writers, and her popularity continued through the 19th century. Interest has revived in the early 21st century, with the publication of three biographies.[Chawton House Library]
Ruth Facer, "Ann Radcliffe (1764–1823)"
retrieved 1 December 2012.
Biography
Early life
Radcliffe was born Ann Ward in Holborn
Holborn ( or ) is a district in central London, which covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part ( St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London.
The area has its roots ...
, London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
on 9 July 1764. She was the only child to William Ward (1737-1798) and Ann Oates (1726-1800), and her mother was 36 years old when she gave birth. Her father worked as a haberdasher
In British English, a haberdasher is a business or person who sells small articles for sewing, dressmaking and knitting, such as buttons, ribbons, and zippers; in the United States, the term refers instead to a retailer who sells men's clothing, ...
in London before moving the family to Bath in 1772 to take over management of a porcelain shop for his business partners Thomas Bentley
Thomas Bentley (23 February 1884 – 23 December 1966) was a British film director. He directed 68 films between 1912 and 1941. He directed three films in the early DeForest Phonofilm sound-on-film process, ''The Man in the Street'' (1926), '' ...
and Josiah Wedgwood
Josiah Wedgwood (12 July 1730 – 3 January 1795) was an English potter, entrepreneur and abolitionist. Founding the Wedgwood company in 1759, he developed improved pottery bodies by systematic experimentation, and was the leader in the indust ...
. Both of her parents were relatively well connected. Her father had a famous uncle, William Cheselden, who was Surgeon to King George II, and her mother descended from the De Witt family of Holland and had a cousin, Sir Richard Jebb, who was a fashionable London physician.
Growing up, Radcliffe often visited her maternal uncle, Thomas Bentley, in Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an affluent area in west London, England, due south-west of Charing Cross by approximately 2.5 miles. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the south-western postal area.
Chelsea histori ...
and later Turnham Green
Turnham Green is a public park on Chiswick High Road, Chiswick, London, and the neighbourhood and conservation area around it; historically, it was one of the four medieval villages in the Chiswick area, the others being Old Chiswick, Little S ...
. Bentley was business partners with a fellow Unitarian, Josiah Wedgwood
Josiah Wedgwood (12 July 1730 – 3 January 1795) was an English potter, entrepreneur and abolitionist. Founding the Wedgwood company in 1759, he developed improved pottery bodies by systematic experimentation, and was the leader in the indust ...
, maker of the Wedgwood China. Sukey
Sukey is an organisation which emerged in Britain on 28 January 2011, with the aim of improving communications among participants in the 2010 UK student protests, student demonstrations. Its immediate aim was to counteract the police tactics of ke ...
, Wedgwood's daughter, also stayed in Chelsea and is Radcliffe's only known childhood companion. Sukey later married Dr. Robert Darwin
Robert Waring Darwin (30 May 1766 – 13 November 1848) was an English medical doctor, who today is best known as the father of the naturalist Charles Darwin. He was a member of the influential Darwin–Wedgwood family.
Biography
Darwin was bor ...
and had a son, the naturalist Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...
. Although mixing in some distinguished circles, Radcliffe seems to have made little impression in this society and was described by Wedgwood as "Bentley's shy niece".
Marriage
In 1787, when Ann was 23 years old, she married William Radcliffe (1763-1830), who was an Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
-educated journalist. William had initially been a student of law, but he didn’t complete his legal studies and instead turned his attention to literature and journalism. Ann and William were married in Bath but soon after moved to London where William got a job working for a paper. William wrote for (and would soon become the editor of) the '' Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser'', which was a campaigning newspaper that "celebrated the French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
, freedom of the press, and Dissenter’s rights."
Ann and William never had children. By all accounts, theirs was a happy marriage. Radcliffe called him her "nearest relative and friend". According to Talfourd's memoir, Ann started writing while her husband remained out late most evenings for work. She published her first novel, '' The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne,'' in 1789 at the age of 25, and she would go on to publish her next four novels in short succession. The money she earned from her novels later allowed her husband to quit his job, and the two of them travelled together, along with their dog, Chance. In 1794, they went to the Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
and Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. This was her only trip abroad, and it became the inspiration for a travelog that she published a year later. On this trip, Ann and William were actually meant to go on to Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, but this plan was “frustrated by a disobliging official, who refused to believe that they were English, and would not honor their passports." In 1795, William returned as editor of the ''Gazetteer'', and a year later, he purchased the ''English Chronicle'' ''or'' ''Universal Evening Post'', which was a Whig newspaper. Ann published '' The Italian'' in 1797, and it would be the last novel published in her lifetime. She was paid £800 for it, which was three times her husband’s yearly income.[Groom, Nick. Introduction. ''The Italian, or the Confessional of the Black Penitents: A Romance'', by Ann Radcliffe, Oxford UP, 2017, pp. ix-xli.]
Later Life
In her final years, Radcliffe retreated from public life and was rumoured to have gone insane as a result of her writing. These rumours arose because Radcliffe seemingly abandoned writing after publishing her fifth novel and vanished from the public eye. While these rumours were later proven false, they were so popular that Talfourd’s memoir actually included a statement from her physician that spoke about her mental condition in her later years. Radcliffe remained secluded for 26 years, with no real explanation available to her many fans. However, this supposed seclusion is contradicted in ''The New Monthly Magazine
''The New Monthly Magazine'' was a British monthly magazine published from 1814 to 1884. It was founded by Henry Colburn and published by him through to 1845.
History
Colburn and Frederic Shoberl established ''The New Monthly Magazine and Univ ...
'', which states that the tenor of Mrs. Radcliffe's life was characterized by the rare union of the literary gentlewoman and the active housewife. Instead of being in confinement in Derbyshire, as had been asserted, she was seen, every Sunday, at St. James's Church; almost every fine day in Hyde Park; sometimes at the theatres, and very frequently at the Opera.
Radcliffe spent the rest of her adult life traveling and living a comfortable life with her husband and their dog, Chance. They traveled domestically almost once a year from 1797-1811, and in later years, when they had stopped doing distant excursions, Ann and William would hire a carriage during the summer months so that they could make trips to places near London. Radcliffe did continue to write. She wrote poetry and another novel, '' Gaston de Blondeville'', but this novel was not published until after her lifetime. She was said to have suffered from asthma for which she received regular treatment.
Death and Posthumous Work
In 1823, Radcliffe went to Ramsgate
Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to t ...
, but it was here that she caught a chest infection which caused her death. She died 7 February 1823 at the age of 58 and was buried in a vault in the Chapel of Ease at St George's, Hanover Square, London. Although she had suffered from asthma for twelve years previously, her modern biographer, Rictor Norton
Rictor Norton (born 1945) is an American writer on literary and cultural history, particularly queer history. He is based in London, England.
Biography
Norton was born in Friendship, New York, USA, on June 25, 1945. He gained a BA from Flo ...
, cites the description given by her physician, Dr. Scudamore, of how "a new inflammation seized the membranes of the brain," which led to "violent symptoms" and argues that they suggest a "bronchial infection, leading to pneumonia, high fever, delirium and death."
Shortly after her death, '' Gaston de Blondeville'' was published by Henry Colburn
Henry Colburn (1784 – 16 August 1855) was a British publisher.
Life
Virtually nothing is known about Henry Colburn's parentage or early life, and there is uncertainty over his year of birth. He was well-educated and fluent in French and h ...
, featuring ''A Memoir for the Authoress'', the first known biographical piece on Radcliffe. It also contained some of her poetry and her essay "On the Supernatural in Poetry," which outlines her distinction between terror and horror.
Christina Rossetti
Christina Georgina Rossetti (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) was an English writer of romantic, devotional and children's poems, including "Goblin Market" and "Remember". She also wrote the words of two Christmas carols well known in Brit ...
attempted to write a biography of Radcliffe in 1883, but abandoned it for lack of information. For 50 years, biographers stayed away from her as a subject, agreeing with Rossetti's estimation. Rictor Norton, author of ''Mistress of Udolpho: The Life of Ann Radcliffe'' (1999), argues that those 50 years were "dominated by interpretation rather than scholarship" where information (specifically on her rumoured madness) was repeated rather than traced to a reliable source.
Literary life
Radcliffe published five novels during her lifetime, which she always referred to as "romances". Her first novel, '' The Castles of Athlin and Dubnayne'', was published anonymously in 1789. Early reviewers were mostly unenthusiastic about it. The ''Monthly Review
The ''Monthly Review'', established in 1949, is an independent socialist magazine published monthly in New York City. The publication is the longest continuously published socialist magazine in the United States.
History Establishment
Following ...
'' said that, while the novel was commendable for its morality, it appealed only to women and children: "To men who have passed, or even attained, the meridian of life, a series of events, which seem not to have their foundation in nature, will ever be insipid, if not disgustful”. It was also largely criticized for its anachronisms and inauthentic renderings of the Highlands.
One year later, Radcliffe published her second novel, ''A Sicilian Romance
''A Sicilian Romance'' is a gothic novel by Ann Radcliffe. It was her second published work, and was first published anonymously in 1790.
Summary
The plot concerns the fallen nobility of the house of Mazzini, on the northern shore of Sicil ...
'', which also received little attention. In 1791, she published her third novel, '' The Romance of the Forest.'' Like her first two novels, this book was initially published anonymously. On the original title page, it stated that the novel was “By the Authoress of A Sicilian Romance”. ''The Romance of the Forest'' was popular with readers, and in the second edition, Radcliffe began adding her own name to the title page.
In 1794, three years later, Radcliffe published ''The Mysteries of Udolpho
''The Mysteries of Udolpho'', by Ann Radcliffe, appeared in four volumes on 8 May 1794 from G. G. and J. Robinson of London. Her fourth and most popular novel, ''The Mysteries of Udolpho'' tells of Emily St. Aubert, who suffers misadventures th ...
.'' At a time when the average amount earned by an author for a manuscript was £10, her publishers, G. G. and J. Robinson, bought the copyright for this novel for £500, and it was a runaway success. The money from this novel allowed her and her husband to travel to the Netherlands and Germany, which she described in her travelogue '' A Journey Made in the Summer of 1794'' (1795). She published '' The Italian'' in 1797, and it was the last novel published in her lifetime. Cadell and Davies paid £800 making Radcliffe the highest-paid professional writer of the 1790s. This novel was written in response to Matthew Gregory Lewis
Matthew Gregory Lewis (9 July 1775 – 14 or 16 May 1818) was an English novelist and dramatist, whose writings are often classified as "Gothic horror". He was frequently referred to as "Monk" Lewis, because of the success of his 1796 Gothic no ...
's ''The Monk
''The Monk: A Romance'' is a Gothic novel by Matthew Gregory Lewis, published in 1796. A quickly written book from early in Lewis's career (in one letter he claimed to have written it in ten weeks, but other correspondence suggests that he ha ...
'' because Radcliffe did not like the direction in which Gothic literature was heading. One critic, Nick Groom, writes that, in ''The Italian'', Radcliffe "takes the violence and eroticism that so titillated readers of ''The Monk'' and subsumes them beneath the veil and the cowl of oppressive Catholicism."
A final novel, '' Gaston de Blondeville'' was published posthumously in 1826. This novel was published with Talfourd's memoir and Radcliffe's unfinished essay "On the Supernatural in Poetry", which details the difference between the sensation of '' terror'' her works aimed to achieve and the '' horror'' Lewis sought to evoke. Radcliffe stated that terror aims to stimulate readers through imagination and perceived evils while horror closes them off through fear and physical dangers: "Terror and Horror are so far opposite, that the first expands the soul and awakens the faculties to a high degree of life; the other contracts, freezes and nearly annihilates them."
Radcliffe portrayed her female characters as equal to male characters, allowing them to dominate and overtake the typically powerful male villains and heroes, creating new roles for women in literature previously not available. Radcliffe was also known for including supernatural elements but eventually giving readers a rational explanation for the supernatural. Usually, Radcliffe would reveal the logical excuse for what first appeared to be supernatural towards the end of her novels, which led to heightened suspense. Some critics/readers found this disappointing and felt duped. Perhaps the most eloquent complaint against the trope was penned by Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', ''Rob Roy (n ...
in his ''Lives of the Novelists'' (1821–1824). Regarding Radcliffe’s penchant for explaining the supernatural, he writes: “A stealthy step behind the arras may, doubtless, in some situations, and when the nerves are tuned to a certain pitch, have no small influence upon the imagination; but if the conscious listener discovers it to be only the noise made by the cat, the solemnity of the feeling is gone, and the visionary is at once angry with his sense for having been cheated, and with his reason for having acquiesced in the deception." Some modern critics have been frustrated by her work, as she fails to include "real ghosts". This could be motivated by the idea that works in the Romantic period
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
, from the late 18th century to the mid-19th century, had to undermine Enlightenment values such as rationalism and realism.
Anti-Catholicism
Radcliffe's work have been considered by some scholars to be part of a larger tradition of anti-Catholicism
Anti-Catholicism is hostility towards Catholics or opposition to the Catholic Church, its clergy, and/or its adherents. At various points after the Reformation, some majority Protestant states, including England, Prussia, Scotland, and the Uni ...
within Gothic literature; her works contain hostile portrayals of both Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and Catholics. ''The Italian'' frequently presents Catholicism, the largest religion in Italy, in a negative light. In the novel, Radcliffe portrays Catholic elements such as the Inquisition
The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...
in a negative light, pointing to its discriminatory practises against non-Catholics. Radcliffe also portrays the confessional
A confessional is a box, cabinet, booth, or stall in which the priest in some Christian churches sits to hear the confessions of penitents. It is the usual venue for the sacrament in the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Churches, but sim ...
as a "danger zone" controlled by the power of the priest and the church. ''The Mysteries of Udolpho'' also contained negative portrayals of Catholicism; both novels are set in Catholic-majority Italy, and Catholicism was presented as being part of "ancient Italianess". Italy, along with its Catholicism, had been featured in earlier Gothic literature; Horace Walpole
Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician.
He had Strawb ...
's novel ''The Castle of Otranto
''The Castle of Otranto'' is a novel by Horace Walpole. First published in 1764, it is generally regarded as the first gothic novel. In the second edition, Walpole applied the word 'Gothic' to the novel in the subtitle – ''A Gothic Story''. Se ...
'' claimed in-universe that it was "found in the library of an ancient catholic family in the north of England" and "printed at Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
, in the black letter, in the year 1529".
Some scholars have suggested that Radcliffe's anti-Catholicism was partly a response to the 1791 Roman Catholic Relief Act passed by the British parliament
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremacy ...
, which was a major component of Catholic emancipation
Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restricti ...
in Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
. Other scholars have suggested that Radcliffe was ultimately ambivalent towards Catholicism, claiming that she was a Latitudinarian
Latitudinarians, or latitude men, were initially a group of 17th-century English theologiansclerics and academicsfrom the University of Cambridge who were moderate Anglicans (members of the Church of England). In particular, they believed that ...
.
Gothic landscapes
Radcliffe used the framing narrative of personifying nature in many of her novels. For example, she believed that the sublime motivated the protagonist to create an image that was more idealistic within the plot. Her elaborate descriptions of landscape were influenced by the painters Claude Lorrain
Claude Lorrain (; born Claude Gellée , called ''le Lorrain'' in French; traditionally just Claude in English; c. 1600 – 23 November 1682) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher of the Baroque era. He spent most of his life in It ...
, Nicolas Poussin
Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythological subjects painted for a ...
, and Salvator Rosa
Salvator Rosa (1615 –1673) is best known today as an Italian Baroque painter, whose romanticized landscapes and history paintings, often set in dark and untamed nature, exerted considerable influence from the 17th century into the early 19th ...
. She often wrote about places she had never visited. Lorrain's influence can be seen through Radcliffe's picturesque, romantic descriptions, for example in the first volume of ''The Mysteries of Udolpho''. Rosa's influence can be seen through dark landscapes and elements of the Gothic.
Radcliffe once said of Claude:
Influence on later writers
Radcliffe influenced many later authors, both by inspiring more Gothic fiction and by inspiring parodies. In the eighteenth century, she inspired writers like Matthew Lewis (1775 – 1818) and the Marquis de Sade
Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade (; 2 June 1740 – 2 December 1814), was a French nobleman, revolutionary politician, philosopher and writer famous for his literary depictions of a libertine sexuality as well as numerous accusat ...
(1740–1814), who praised her work but produced more intensely violent fiction. Radcliffe is known for having spawned a large number of lesser imitators of the "Radcliffe School", such as Harriet Lee and Catherine Cuthbertson
Catherine Cuthbertson (c. 1775 – June 1842) was an English-language novelist published in London in the early 19th century. She may also have written an unpublished 1803 play under the name "Miss Cuthbertson".
Unknowns
Cuthbertson's origins ...
. Jane Austen
Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...
(1775 – 1817) parodied ''The Mysteries of Udolpho
''The Mysteries of Udolpho'', by Ann Radcliffe, appeared in four volumes on 8 May 1794 from G. G. and J. Robinson of London. Her fourth and most popular novel, ''The Mysteries of Udolpho'' tells of Emily St. Aubert, who suffers misadventures th ...
'' in ''Northanger Abbey
''Northanger Abbey'' () is a coming-of-age
Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the ...
'' (1817)'','' and she defined her fiction as a contrast to Radcliffe and writers like her. Scholars have also perceived other apparent allusions to Radcliffe's novels and life in Austen's work.
In the early nineteenth century, Radcliffe influenced Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...
(1809–1849), and Sir Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...
(1771–1832). For example, Scott interspersed his work with poems in a similar manner to Radcliffe, and one assessment of her reads, "Scott himself said that her prose was poetry and her poetry was prose. She was, indeed, a prose poet, in both the best and the worst senses of the phrase. The romantic landscape, the background, is the best thing in all her books; the characters are two dimensional, the plots far fetched and improbable, with 'elaboration of means and futility of result'." Later in the nineteenth century, Charlotte and Emily Brontë continued Radcliffe's Gothic tradition with their novels ''Jane Eyre
''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The first ...
, Villette,'' and ''Wuthering Heights
''Wuthering Heights'' is an 1847 novel by Emily Brontë, initially published under her pen name Ellis Bell. It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moorland, moors, the Earnshaws and the Lintons, and their tur ...
.''
Radcliffe was also admired by French authors like Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly , ; born Honoré Balzac;Jean-Louis Dega, La vie prodigieuse de Bernard-François Balssa, père d'Honoré de Balzac : Aux sources historiques de La Comédie humaine, Rodez, Subervie, 1998, 665 p. 20 May 179 ...
(1799 – 1850), Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...
(1802 – 1885), Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer ...
(1802 – 1870), and Charles Baudelaire
Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poetry, French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticis ...
(1821 – 1867). Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly , ; born Honoré Balzac;Jean-Louis Dega, La vie prodigieuse de Bernard-François Balssa, père d'Honoré de Balzac : Aux sources historiques de La Comédie humaine, Rodez, Subervie, 1998, 665 p. 20 May 179 ...
's novel of the supernatural ''L'Héritière de Birague'' (1822) follows the tradition of Radcliffe's style and parodies it.
As a child the young Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...
was deeply impressed by Radcliffe. In ''Winter Notes on Summer Impressions "Winter Notes on Summer Impressions" (russian: Зимние заметки о летних впечатлениях ''Zimniye zametki o letnikh vpechatleniyakh'') is an essay by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It was first published in ''Vrem ...
'' (1863) he writes, "I used to spend the long winter hours before bed listening (for I could not yet read), agape with ecstasy and terror, as my parents read aloud to me from the novels of Ann Radcliffe. Then I would rave deliriously about them in my sleep." A number of scholars have noted elements of Gothic literature in Dostoyevsky's novels, and some have tried to show direct influence of Radcliffe's work.
In 1875, Paul Féval
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
*Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
* Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...
wrote a story starring Radcliffe as a vampire hunter, titled ''La Ville Vampire: Adventure Incroyable de Madame Anne Radcliffe'' ("City of Vampires: The Incredible Adventure of Mrs. Anne Radcliffe"), which blends fiction and history. At the last minute a mysterious man on a white horse saves the day, none other than Lord Wellington fresh from the Battle of Waterloo.
Film reference
Helen McCrory
Helen Elizabeth McCrory (17 August 1968 – 16 April 2021) was an English actress. After studying at the Drama Centre London, she made her stage debut in ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' in 1990. Other stage roles include playing Lady Macbe ...
plays Ann Radcliffe in the 2007 film ''Becoming Jane
''Becoming Jane'' is a 2007 biographical film, biographical Romance film, romantic Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Julian Jarrold. It depicts the early life of the British author Jane Austen and her lasting love for Thomas L ...
'', starring Anne Hathaway
Anne Jacqueline Hathaway (born November 12, 1982) is an American actress. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Anne Hathaway, various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Awar ...
as Jane Austen
Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...
. The film depicts Radcliffe as meeting the young Jane Austen and encouraging her to pursue a literary career. No evidence exists that such a meeting ever occurred.
Books
*'' The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne'' (1 vol.) 1789
*''A Sicilian Romance
''A Sicilian Romance'' is a gothic novel by Ann Radcliffe. It was her second published work, and was first published anonymously in 1790.
Summary
The plot concerns the fallen nobility of the house of Mazzini, on the northern shore of Sicil ...
'' (2 vols) 1790
*'' The Romance of the Forest'' (3 vols) 1791
*''The Mysteries of Udolpho
''The Mysteries of Udolpho'', by Ann Radcliffe, appeared in four volumes on 8 May 1794 from G. G. and J. Robinson of London. Her fourth and most popular novel, ''The Mysteries of Udolpho'' tells of Emily St. Aubert, who suffers misadventures th ...
'' (4 vols) 1794
*'' A Journey Made in the Summer of 1794'' (1 vol.) 1795
*'' The Italian'' (3 vols) 1797
*'' Gaston de Blondeville'' (4 vols) 1826
References
Further reading
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*Miles, Robert. ''Ann Radcliffe: The Great Enchantress''. United Kingdom, Manchester University Press, 1995.
*McIntyre, Clara Frances. ''Ann Radcliffe in Relation to Her Time''. United Kingdom, Yale University Press, 1920.
*Murray, E. B. ''Ann Radcliffe''. Twayne Publishers, Incorporated, New York, 1972.
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*Rogers, Deborah. ''The Critical Responses to Ann Radcliffe''
External links
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Listing in 'The Literary Gothic'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Radcliffe, Ann
1764 births
1823 deaths
18th-century British women writers
18th-century English novelists
18th-century English women
18th-century English people
19th-century English women writers
19th-century English novelists
Anti-Catholicism in the United Kingdom
English horror writers
English women novelists
People from Holborn
Women horror writers
Writers of Gothic fiction