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Volume 1, Chapter 5
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Mysteries of Udolpho, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Marriage, Love, and Inheritance
The Wonders of Nature
Mystery and Superstition
Mortality
The Value of Education and Art
Summary
Analysis
The next morning, St. Aubert, Emily, and Valancourt have breakfast in an anxious silence. When it’s finally time for them to part ways, Valancourt lingers for a long time by the carriage door talking to them until at last, St. Aubert has to be the one to say “farewell.” St. Aubert notice Emily looking back the way Valancourt went and says that Valancourt is one of the most pleasant young men he’s met in a long time.
Valancourt’s hesitance to depart suggests that his feelings for Emily have grown, something that even St. Aubert has begun to notice. The silences in their conversation suggest the things they are leaving unsaid, such as the fact that this may be the last time Valancourt ever sees St. Aubert.
Themes
Emily and St. Aubert continue their carriage ride, eventually reaching a place where they can see the sea. As St. Aubert falls asleep, Emily reaches for one of her books but can’t find it. Valancourt apparently grabbed her book and replaced it with a volume of romantic Petrarch poems, which Emily takes as an accident, not considering that he might have done it on purpose out of love. She opens the book and sees some of Valancourt’s pencil writing annotating it.
Valancourt continues to be a presence in the story even after he leave, suggesting that his role in the novel isn’t finished. Although the tone of The Mysteries of Udolpho is often dark, it also contains humorous moments, like here when Emily thinks that Valancourt left a book of love poems entirely by accident instead of on purpose. Petrarch was an Italian poet who remains well known for his love poetry even today and who may have been an influence on some of the poems Emily composes throughout the novel.
Themes
Emily and St. Aubert arrive in the town of Perpignan, where St. Aubert finds some letters from Monsieur Quesnel that he was expecting. The letters seem to disturb him, which also worries Emily. At last, St. Aubert reveals that he has been concealing something from Emily, hoping to spare her unhappiness, but he now sees that the secret has just caused her even more anxiety. It turns out St. Aubert has invested most of his personal property in a man from Paris named Monsieur Motteville, but that man has been financially ruined, and so St. Aubert has been ruined, too. Emily reassures St. Aubert that she can find pleasure even in poverty, with nature and intellectual pursuits.
This passage seems to show the dangers of St. Aubert’s generosity, showing how it makes him vulnerable to being scammed by people who take advantage of his good nature. Nevertheless, because he has raised Emily to appreciate things that don’t require money, his financial ruin has a silver lining. In a story where inheritance is such an important issue, St. Aubert has little money to give Emily, but he has already given her an education that has prepared her for the future in other ways.
Themes
St. Aubert and Emily continue on their journey, finally reaching the province of Languedoc. Without much money, they struggle to pay for lodging in one town, forcing them to keep going even as St. Aubert gets weary. Eventually, they come to a chateau in the woods. St. Aubert asks a passing peasant about it, but the peasant thinks the chateau never takes visitors. When St. Aubert confirms that the chateau isn’t uninhabited—the peasant thinks some servants stay there—he has Michael proceed in that direction anyway.
The mysterious chateau that doesn’t take visitors is just a minor part of this chapter, but it becomes significant again much later in the book. St. Aubert’s decision to head toward the chateau, even though it doesn’t seem like a likely place for them to stay, suggests his growing desperation for rest as his condition worsens.
Themes
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St. Aubert begins to feel too ill to take the movement of the carriage, so Emily goes on ahead to investigate a nearby village on foot. When Emily makes it back to the carriage with some local peasants, St. Aubert seems to be feeling better. He gladly accepts the hospitality of the peasants, and the carriage begins to follow them. When the carriage reaches the village, the peasants there all stop dancing, curious to see their new visitor. An old man named La Voisin takes St. Aubert and Emily into his home, offering them hospitality. La Voisin and St. Aubert bond over the fact that they’re both widowers and wonder about what happens after death. This conversation causes Emily to cry.
Although St. Aubert and La Voisin’s conversation about death may seem morbid, it shows that they have the courage to face mortality—something that distinguishes them from many other characters in the story. Ultimately, St. Aubert’s lack of interest in wealth or material belongings relates back to his awareness of his mortality, which suggests that all earthly things are temporary, whereas religion and the natural world offer the promise of connecting with something more lasting.
Themes
St. Aubert and Emily ask La Voisin about the nearby chateau. He explains that it belonged to the Marquis de Villeroi, who didn’t spend much time there because he didn’t like the house; he supposedly died about five weeks ago. Now, only the housekeeper and her husband remain there, although they stay in a separate cottage, not the chateau itself. La Voisin says nothing in the world could convince him to spend the night in that house.
At this point, it isn’t clear who the Marquis de Villeroi is, but his death adds to the feeling of inevitable mortality that hangs over this chapter. La Voisin’s fear of the chateau raises the question of whether this story contains supernatural elements like ghosts or whether La Voisin is just superstitious, and this air of mystery and uncertainty lingers throughout much of the novel.
Themes
La Voisin fondly recalls the Marchioness de Villeroi, who also supposedly died at a young age. Just then, they all hear some mysterious music in the distance. La Voisin first heard the music 18 years ago. He doesn’t know where it comes from, but superstition has it that the music comes right before someone is about to die. Hearing this clearly upsets Emily. She urges St. Aubert to get some rest for the night, and he tells her that if he feels better in the morning, he’d like to get an early start.
The mysterious music in the distance recalls the ghostly lute player that Emily heard in the fishing house earlier. Although the music causes fear and suggests death to people like La Voisin, it perhaps also suggests that the unknown can be beautiful. The reference to the Marchioness de Villeroi seems like an aside here, but it is yet another clue to an element that will become significant later in the story.
Themes
