Il castello di Otranto/The Castle of Otranto - Horace Walpole

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Il castello di Otranto/The Castle of Otranto - Horace Walpole

Letteratura universale Marsilio - Elsinore - Italian Parallel Text

Edited by Sandro Melani

Paperback, 352 pages

Each volume in this series presents a classic of English literature with a new Italian translation on the facing page, as well as an extensive introduction, information about the text and the author, in-depth annotations, and a complete bibliography, all in Italian.

The Castle of Otranto tells the story of Manfred, lord of the castle, and his family. The book begins on the wedding-day of his sickly son Conrad and princess Isabella. Shortly before the wedding, however, Conrad is crushed to death by a gigantic helmet that falls on him from above. This inexplicable event is particularly ominous in light of an ancient prophecy "[T]hat the castle and lordship of Otranto should pass from the present family, whenever the real owner should be grown too large to inhabit it". Manfred, terrified that Conrad's death signals the beginning of the end for his line, resolves to avert destruction by marrying Isabella himself while divorcing his current wife Hippolita, who he feels has failed to bear him a proper heir. However, as Manfred attempts to marry Isabella, she escapes to a church with the aid of a peasant named Theodore. Manfred orders Theodore's death while talking to the friar Jerome, who ensured Isabella's safety in the church. When Theodore removes his shirt to be killed, Jerome recognises a marking below his shoulder and identifies Theodore as his own son. Jerome begs for his son's life, but Manfred says Jerome must either give up the princess or his son's life. They are interrupted by a trumpet and the entrance of knights from another kingdom who want to deliver Isabella. This leads the knights and Manfred to race to find Isabella.

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Ciascun volume di questa collana si presenta come una monografia completa composta da un saggio introduttivo, una nuova traduzione con testo a fronte, note informative sull'autore e sull'opera, un commento essenziale, una ricca bibliografia.

Un despota lussurioso e malvagio di shakespeariana memoria, una fanciulla indifesa e ansiosamente in fuga in lugubri sotterranei, un giovane, generoso e integerrimo paladino dei più deboli: su questi tre personaggi dal forte spessore archetipico, consolidati da una lunga tradizione letteraria e ritratti sullo sfondo di un fantasioso principato italiano nei cupi anni del Medioevo, Walpole dà vita nel 1764 al nuovo genere letterario del gotico e del roman noir, mirando a fondere, al di sotto delle apparizioni spettrali e degli accadimenti soprannaturali, delle sinistre profezie e delle miracolose rivelazioni, le istanze degli antichi racconti romanzeschi con la verosimiglianza e la plausibilità psicologica del ben più giovane romanzo realistico. Il castello di Otranto costituisce dunque una tappa fondamentale della storia del romanzo europeo e affascina il lettore grazie alla suspense di un impeccabile meccanismo narrativo, al rapido alternarsi del tragico e del comico, al gioco tutto settecentesco della teatralità e della contraffazione che stempera nell’ironia e nel disincanto le cupe atmosfere e le grottesche iperboli del “gotico”.

  • Language

    Italian

  • Level

    Intermediate

  • Book Binding

    Paperback

  • Book Dimensions

    18.4 x 12.8 x 2.4 cm

  • Book Format

    Unabridged

  • Book Genre

    Classics

  • Book ISBN

    9788831793841

  • Book Page Count

    352

  • Book Publication Date

    2008

  • Book Publisher

    Marsilio Editori

  • Delivery Estimate

    Please allow from 10 to 21 days for this item to be delivered, as it ships from Europe.

  • Product Supplier

    Sodip

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