Previous
Volume 2, Chapter 8
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
Back at Udolpho, Emily remains faithful to Valancourt. She lives a solitary life in her apartment, with Annette being the only person she can talk to. All the while, Emily can sense the tension between Montoni and Madame Montoni. Emily continues to check in about Count Morano, but reports still say that he is alive but seems likely to die. One day, Annette tells Emily that she heard a rumor from Ludovico that Montoni has been making plans to go to war. Emily doesn’t believe anyone is going to attack the castle, but Annette says there have been a lot of strangers around.
Coming after the previous chapter, the beginning of this chapter raises the question of whether Emily is right to remain faithful to Valancourt or if he, like Madame Montoni, ultimately doesn’t deserve the loyalty that Emily extends. This passage further suggests that Emily may be naïve by showing how she doubts anyone would ever attack the castle, despite seeing warning signs of an incoming invasion.
Themes
That night, when she’s in her room, Emily hears a strange knocking on her bedroom door. It sounds like someone is trying to burst through, and Emily fears it’s a robber. She gets up and leaves her room to investigate. Suddenly, she hears the sound of breathing. Emily wants to call for help but feels that she can’t make a sound. She runs down the hall and is startled to find Annette, who seems to be passed out on the ground.
Once again, a nighttime episode in Udolpho has hints of the supernatural while also allowing for a rational explanation. So far, Emily has endured the difficulties of Udolpho with Annette’s support, but this passage puts Emily into a difficult spot, leaving her on her own without Annette’s support.
Themes
Emily helps Annette recover. When she comes to, Annette reveals that she tried to go to the room with the painting under the black veil and had a similar experience to Emily. She saw a tall figure that she swears wasn’t Montoni and believes it shut the door. Emily thinks Annette is letting her imagination get the better of her, although she is a little shaken too.
While the tall figure that Emily sees could be something supernatural, there is already one case in this novel of a human sneaking around in the castle where he didn’t belong (Count Morano). Although Emily herself is easily frightened, she is less superstitious than Annette, once again showing the influence of St. Aubert’s education.
Themes
The next morning, Emily hears the sound of many horses outside, and when she investigates, she sees that many of the horsemen are holding weapons. Cavigni and Verezzi are dressed for battle, but when Montoni shows up, he is not. Annette says to Emily that she heard from Carlo that everyone is going out just to frighten the enemy, but no one is quite sure where the enemy is. Ludovico, however, heard differently: that Montoni is sending the men off to go commit a robbery.
The fact that Cavigni and Verezzi are dressed for battle but Montoni is not suggesting that Montoni is the type of person who manipulates others into fighting his battles for him. Once again, Emily seems to be both surrounded by violence but also isolated from it.
Themes
Get the entire The Mysteries of Udolpho LitChart as a printable PDF.
Madame Montoni goes right to Montoni to ask why so many men are mobilizing for battle. He refuses an answer and tells her she can’t leave the castle until she signs away her property like he asked earlier. When she still refuses, he banishes her to the east turret of the castle. Emily is distraught and asks Carlo to do whatever he can to try to sway Montoni to be nicer to Madame Montoni. Montoni agrees to give Madame Montoni one more night before sending her to the turret.
By sending Madame Montoni away to the east turret, Montoni shows that as Madame Montoni’s husband, he essentially also has the power to be her jailer. His actions here recall the earlier rumors of how he got rid of Signora Laurentini by claiming that she had gone mad and banishing her.
Themes
Madame Montoni mentions to Emily that if she doesn’t sign the documents like Montoni wants, when she dies, her property will all go to Emily herself. Emily goes back to her apartment. Around midnight, she thinks she hears a voice and goes to look. She witnesses Montoni visiting someone in an apartment she thought was shut up.
Knowing that she is about to be sent to the east turret, Madame Montoni has a rare moment when she opens up to Emily. Once again, Madame Montoni’s main focus is on financial affairs and inheritance, showing how her true character flaw isn’t cruelty but materialism (which nevertheless often leads to act cruelly). Still, she also seems surprisingly generous here, as she seems to hope that Emily will inherit her properties.
Themes
