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Volume 2, Chapter 12
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
Emily wonders whether Barnardine was telling the truth about Madame Montoni being alive. She talks with Annette about how she’s afraid of meeting him alone, but that evening, she nevertheless goes to see him. Barnardine leads Emily an unusual way, which he claims is to avoid unlocking certain doors, but Emily keeps following.
The dark, twisting way that Barnardine leads Emily symbolizes how Emily is going out into the unknown, forced to rely on a guide that she isn’t sure she can trust. Emily simultaneously shows that she is brave enough to face the unknown, while also remaining naïve about the dangers that may await her.
Themes
Before Barnardine can take Emily to Madame Montoni, he says he has to check with her first to confirm if she wants to see Emily. Emily doesn’t think that’s necessary, but he insists. Barnardine leaves Emily alone, and she thinks that Barnardine goes the wrong direction on the stairs. Emily fears Madame Montoni is dead after all, and suddenly she hears people walking around. She decides she should try to escape.
Barnardine’s actions, like going the wrong direction on the stairs, continue to suggest that he is betraying Emily, but she is powerless to do anything. The fact that she is alone, without anyone around like Annette to support her, suggests that this chapter will present a test to Emily and her character.
Themes
As Emily looks around the room for a way out, she thinks she sees instruments of torture. She fears one of them might have been used on Madame Montoni and begins to feel faint. As she continues to explore the room, she finds a curtain that catches her attention. Emily pulls back the curtain and finds a still-bloody corpse, causing her to pass out immediately. When she wakes up, she’s surrounded by men carrying her, including Barnardine.
Emily’s encounter with the corpse represents her having to face the reality of mortality, not just for herself but also for people she knows like Madame Montoni. The fact that Emily passes out suggests that she isn’t quite ready to accept this dark truth, and yet at the same time, she faces her mortality more directly than characters like Montoni, who seems to live in a constant state of denial.
Themes
Emily realizes that Barnardine and the other men are taking her to a horse. Annette sees them and shrieks, causing Montoni, Cavigni, and some other men to come down to stop the men from carrying off Emily. Although Emily still views Montoni with fear, believing he killed Madame Montoni, she appreciates being rescued and makes it clear that she herself had no part in the scheme.
This passage shows how the various men of the story treat Emily like an object to possess, literally carrying her around to load onto a horse against her will. Once again, Montoni saves Emily, not out of kindness but out of his own desire to possess her.
Themes
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Emily goes back to her chamber, but when Annette goes to see her, Emily just has a blank look and doesn’t seem to comprehend what anyone says to her. Annette puts Emily to bed, and Emily says that ever since St. Aubert died, everyone “forsakes” her. Annette reminds Emily that he’s been dead for a while, and she starts to cry.
Emily continues to think about death in part because of the corpse she just witnessed, which forced her to confront mortality directly. Lamenting that everyone now “forsakes” her suggests that Emily is beginning to realize how much her father protected her while he was alive. From beyond the grave, he can no longer help her.
Themes
