Ann Radcliffe and the Gothic Novel

Ann Radcliffe is considered to be one of the pioneers of the Gothic Novel. Works such as The Romance of the Forest (1791), and The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) consolidated her as a leading exponent of an emerging genre. Well-known because of her innovative style, Radcliffe’s novels were characterized not only by the use of the sublime: terror, mystery and suspense, but also by the use of the sentimental novel’s principles, combination that was approved by readers, strongly criticized by experts and parodied by other writers.

According to David Durant’s ideas in his book Ann Radcliffe and the Conservative Gothic “Radcliffe was a conservative writer in what now is considered a revolutionary movement”. Her narrative, full of virtuous heroes and heroines, order, emotions and moral lessons, constitutes a proof of her traditional style. Looking for new vehicles to entertain readers, Radcliffe managed to combine these features with gothic elements, creating a new genre that later would find in Radcliffe’s depictions of supernatural landscapes, scary situations and sinister locales the most important alleys to charm the audience.   

That is why experts agree that Radcliffe’s best achievement was the introduction of supernatural elements in the novel. But as a forerunner of the Romantic Movement, her style was incomplete. To many literary critics “Ann Radcliffe’s various novels now seem more like childish fantasies than evocations of primal horror” (Durant, 1), however, these “childish fantasies” were the foundations that made possible the development of the Gothic as a genre.