Previous
Hermit
Alfonso’s chamberlain, usurper of Otranto, father of Manuel, grandfather of Manfred, and great-grandfather of Matilda and Conrad. In the Holy Land during the Crusades, Ricardo poisons his lord Alfonso and forges a will saying that he, Ricardo, should inherit Otranto. On his way back to Otranto, Ricardo was shipwrecked and made a deal with St. Nicholas in order to survive. He would build a church and two convents in Otranto in return for rulership of Otranto “until the rightful owner should be grown too large to inhabit the castle, and as long as issue male from Ricardo’s loins should remain to enjoy it.” The punishment for Ricardo’s sin, then, is only delayed, and is eventually visited upon Manfred. Ricardo’s own portrait on the wall of Otranto seems to symbolize this, as when Manfred first searches for Isabella after her escape, Ricardo’s image leaves his portrait and leads Manfred down a path that dead ends when a door slams in front of him.
Ricardo Quotes in The Castle of Otranto
The The Castle of Otranto quotes below are all either spoken by Ricardo or refer to Ricardo. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
Manfred rose to pursue her; when the moon, which was now up, and gleamed in at the opposite casement, presented to his sight the plumes of the fatal helmet, which rose to the height of the windows, waving backwards and forwards in a tempestuous manner, and accompanied with a hollow and rustling sound…. “Heaven nor hell shall impede my designed!” said Manfred, advancing again to seize the princess. At that instant, the portrait of his grandfather, which hung over the bench where they had been sitting, uttered a deep sigh, and heaved its breast.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Castle of Otranto LitChart as a printable PDF.
Ricardo Quotes in The Castle of Otranto
The The Castle of Otranto quotes below are all either spoken by Ricardo or refer to Ricardo. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
Manfred rose to pursue her; when the moon, which was now up, and gleamed in at the opposite casement, presented to his sight the plumes of the fatal helmet, which rose to the height of the windows, waving backwards and forwards in a tempestuous manner, and accompanied with a hollow and rustling sound…. “Heaven nor hell shall impede my designed!” said Manfred, advancing again to seize the princess. At that instant, the portrait of his grandfather, which hung over the bench where they had been sitting, uttered a deep sigh, and heaved its breast.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
