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Parody
Definition of Satire
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of satire, but satirists can take... read full definition
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of... read full definition
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians... read full definition
Chapter 3
Explanation and Analysis—A Damsel in Distress:
In Chapter 3, Walpole satirizes the medieval trope of the damsel in distress, showing the strength of character that Matilda possesses and pointing out the ludicrousness of this literary convention. When Matilda is attempting to help Theodore escape from his cell in the tower after being imprisoned there by Manfred, they have the following interaction:
—“Thy looks, thy actions, all thy beauteous self, seems an emanation of divinity,” said Theodore, “but thy words are dark and mysterious,—speak, lady; speak to thy servant’s comprehension.” —“Thou understandest but too well!” said Matilda: “but once more I command thee to be gone: thy blood, which I may preserve, will be on my head, if I waste the time in vain discourse.”
In this scene, Theodore is using the language of courtly love—"thy beauteous self," calling himself her "servant"— to flatter and woo Matilda, as he has fallen in love with her. He attempts to refuse her help, and he tries to decline her offer of leading him to sanctuary. He doesn't want her to guide him to safety from Manfred in the holy setting of a church. He thinks it would be emasculating and that "sanctuaries are for helpless damsels, or criminals." Although he is actually the person who needs help, he is setting himself up as the hero.
Matilda, however, is having none of it. Rather than letting him try and flee alone or do anything for her, she aids in his escape. Tellingly, she seems to know this is an unusual choice for a woman, as earlier in the same chapter she declares that "filial piety and womanly modesty" should stop her. She also tells Theodore off for his "rash" bravado in this passage, chiding him like a child. Walpole sets his reader up to believe that the sort of interaction they might usually expect from a couple meeting in a tower—where a hero reduces a damsel— is coming. Instead, this convention is turned on its head.
In most situations like this in a medieval romance, the male character would be directing the action of a scene. The female character would be responding to those directions and to the emotions he was exhibiting. The gender roles are completely reversed here between Matilda and Theodore, but the language of courtship remains consistent with the medieval tales Walpole is poking fun at. This is one of many moments in the book where medieval tropes are lampooned. In The Castle of Otranto, men kill women, women outsmart men, and noble deaths for noblemen are replaced with audacious, ridiculous chance scenarios like being squashed by giant armor.
Related Themes:
