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Volume 1, Chapter 6
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, when Emily awakens, she feels tranquil but tired as she waits a while for St. Aubert to come to breakfast. He eventually emerges and also feels exhausted. St. Aubert compliments La Voisin on his nice cottage. All of a sudden, as he’s talking, St. Aubert turns pale and falls back. Emily and La Voisin put St. Aubert into bed, and he says that he can conceal it no longer: He will soon die.
Although St. Aubert’s death seems imminent, Emily feels calm at the beginning of this chapter. The prospect of St. Aubert’s death is sad, but after St. Aubert’s lessons on self-control after the death of Madame St. Aubert, Emily seems better prepared to face this new tragedy in her life.
Themes
St. Aubert wastes no time because he has some important things he wants to say to Emily before he goes. Emily tries to hold back crying so that her father doesn’t have to see her suffer. He tells her first, above all else, to continue believing in the power of God. He then tells her that when she returns home to the chateau, she must go in his closet to a hiding space under a floor board and seek out some papers hidden there. St. Aubert urges Emily to burn the papers without ever looking at them. Finally, he tells Emily that whatever she does, even if she marries, she must never sell La Vallée.
St. Aubert’s focus on practical matters related to his death shows once again how he has lived his life preparing for this moment and has no regrets. His reference to God reaffirms the idea that for a Christian, a mortal life is less significant than the promise of an eternal afterlife. The one thing disturbing St. Aubert’s peace are his papers, which hint at the possibility of a secret in his past—one that Emily has already glimpsed earlier when she saw St. Aubert kissing a miniature.
Themes
After his talk with Emily, St. Aubert seems exhausted but more at ease. La Voisin mentions that a confessor is passing through the town, and St. Aubert asks to see him. The confessors comes and stays alone with St. Aubert for a while before leaving. Once the confessor is gone, St. Aubert asks La Voisin to take care of Emily for a few days after St. Aubert’s death.
In many branches of Christianity, a person can receive a blessing on their deathbed (called last rites or anointing of the sick) as well as a chance to confess their sins and seek forgiveness. Even someone as seemingly saintly as St. Aubert has sins to confess on his deathbed, suggesting that all people have flaws and shortcomings.
Themes
St. Aubert advises Emily on how to be happy in life. He says that he will be entrusting her to the care of his sister, Madame Cheron, whom he didn’t contact very often but who is now Emily’s only living female relative. Emily promises to follow all his advice. That day, at 3 o’clock, St. Aubert passes away peacefully. La Voisin and his daughter try to comfort Emily in her grief.
The hour of 3 o’clock in the afternoon is also traditionally the time that Jesus died on the cross, relating back to the imagery of crosses earlier on St. Aubert’s journey. As St. Aubert reaches the end of his life, Emily goes through her own transition, not just dealing with grief but entering a new living situation with her aunt.
Themes
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