The Castle of Otranto: Chapter 2 Summary & Analysis

Now in her own room, Matilda is restless and overwhelmed with emotion at her brother’s death, Isabella’s disappearance, and the ominous tone and rage Manfred had exhibited toward her mother. Her servant, Bianca, fills her in on the latest gossip about the discovery of the young peasant and the giant leg in armor. Matilda, however, is more concerned about Isabella, her mother, and her brother’s burial.

When Bianca speculates about Manfred’s desire for grandsons, the two women have a discussion about marriage, in which Bianca claims that “all men use their wives,” as Manfred does Hippolita, “when they are weary of them,” but that “a bad husband is better than no husband at all.” Matilda explains that she would much rather become a nun and is thankful that her father has rejected numerous proposals for her. Bianca then teases Matilda for her adoration of a painting of Alfonso, a heroic past ruler of Otranto, but Matilda claims she is not in love with the painting and reveals that her mother has told her to pray at Alfonso’s tomb. Despite her mother’s lack of explanation for this, Matilda, as a dutiful daughter, does so without question.

While the women are talking, they hear a voice from the room below Matilda’s. Though Bianca becomes terrified that it is a ghost, Matilda opens a window and realizes that it is a stranger singing. Though they cannot see each other, the stranger reveals himself to be polite, well spoken, pious, and unhappy. Bianca assumes that because he is unhappy, he is in love, and she immediately wants to pry into his life, but Matilda is skeptical of Bianca’s reasoning and decides to respect his privacy. However, when the stranger asks about the missing princess, Matilda becomes suspicious that he is spying on her father and ends the conversation.

Bianca reveals that the servants believe the stranger helped Isabella escape. She insinuates that the stranger is unhappy because he is in love with Isabella and that he may have been responsible for Conrad’s death, suggesting that perhaps the stranger is a prince in disguise. Matilda dismisses Bianca’s speculations and resolves to question him about Isabella later. Bianca continues to chatter, suggesting that Isabella and the stranger perhaps orchestrated Conrad’s death and that Isabella secretly mocked Matilda’s aspirations for nunhood. Despite Bianca’s gossip, Matilda steadfastly defends Isabella and their friendship.

At that moment, a servant interrupts them with the news that Isabella has sought sanctuary at St. Nicholas’s church and that Father Jerome of the church is now informing Manfred, who is in Hippolita’s room. The narrator jumps to the interaction between Jerome and Manfred, in which Manfred tries to question Jerome alone to prevent Hippolita from learning information he doesn’t want her to know. Jerome nearly tells Hippolita why Isabella sought sanctuary, but Manfred interrupts him, claiming that as a priest, he has no business in Manfred’s affairs, and that, as a woman, neither does Hippolita. Jerome, however, asserts his status as “minister of a mightier prince than Manfred.”

Jerome then passes along a message from Isabella to both Manfred and Hippolita, affirming her compassion for Conrad’s loss and her respect for them both as her parents, and requesting their consent to stay at the church. Angry, Manfred refuses and blames the young peasant for Isabella’s flight. While Manfred tries to assert his role as Isabella’s parent in order to regain her for himself, Jerome repeatedly questions the propriety of such an arrangement, insinuating his knowledge of Manfred’s wrongdoings without explicitly informing Hippolita, who decides not to hear anything her husband does not want her to learn. Hippolita goes to her oratory, a private room for prayer, leaving the two men alone.

Now in his own room, Manfred has a private discussion with Jerome and claims that his attempt to rape Isabella was motivated by “reasons of state.” He tries to bribe Jerome with money for the church into persuading Hippolita to agree to a divorce and become a nun, arguing that his life, his family, and the state of Otranto depend on a divorce and his having a son. Unwilling to betray Isabella even for the good of the church, Jerome accuses Manfred of “incestuous design,” and vows to protect Isabella. He urges Manfred to resign himself to God’s will.

Realizing that his line of argument isn’t working, Manfred backtracks and claims that his desire to divorce Hippolita stems instead from his tortured conscience over the possible illegality and incestuous nature of their marriage. Jerome recognizes Manfred’s attempt to manipulate him but decides to play along, as he fears for Hippolita, Isabella, and whomever else Manfred might harm if angered. When Manfred interrogates Jerome about the peasant, Jerome unwisely confirms a romantic connection between the peasant and Isabella, thinking it might help her later.

Seething over the false information Jerome gave him, Manfred has the peasant brought from his room to the great hall for questioning. As Manfred begins to question the peasant, whose name is Theodore, Matilda and Bianca happen to be walking by. Seeing for the first time the stranger with whom she had been talking the night before, Matilda is stunned to realize that the peasant looks exactly like the painting of Alfonso that Bianca had teased her about. Manfred, who is furious about the peasant’s supposed love for Isabella, sentences Theodore to death. Overhearing the sentence, Matilda faints, causing Bianca to scream out, “The princess is dead!” Manfred dismisses her “womanish panic” and has Theodore brought out to the court for his execution. Resigned but dignified, Theodore accepts his impending execution but asks for a confessor.

When Jerome arrives as a confessor, he realizes that he inadvertently put Theodore in danger. Remorseful, he confesses to fabricating a relationship between Isabella and Theodore, which further angers Manfred. As Theodore kneels down to be executed, his shirt slips over his shoulder and uncovers a birthmark. Jerome recognizes the mark and reveals that he is Theodore’s long-lost father and was previously the Count of Falconara. Manfred promises to spare Jerome’s son if he brings Isabella back to the castle. Theodore nobly but impetuously declares he is prepared to sacrifice his life. Before Jerome can respond either to Manfred or to Theodore, they are interrupted by the sound of a trumpet outside the castle gate. At the same time, the feathers of the giant helmet bow down by themselves.