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Volume 4, Chapter 10
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, Emily leaves Thoulouse early and arrives at La Vallée around sunset. It’s autumn, a season Emily loves, and she composes a poem about it. Shortly after arriving, Emily asks about Theresa and finds that she lives in a cottage nearby. Emily goes to visit her. Theresa says she only got her current cottage due to the help of a “kind friend,” but she isn’t allowed to say this friend’s name. Theresa asks Emily how Valancourt is, praising him, but Emily tells her to drop the subject.
As the book nears its conclusion, many of the characters face the results of their earlier actions, both good and bad. Quesnel carelessly dismissed Theresa, paying no attention to her many years of dedicated service, but now as the novel nears its conclusion, justice is restored as Theresa receives a reward for her loyalty. Perhaps humorously, right from the start, Theresa makes little attempt to hide the fact that Valancourt is likely her mysterious friend, which the very next part of the chapter confirms.
Themes
Theresa reveals that actually it was Valancourt who helped her get her cottage. She just saw him recently. This brings Emily a lot of anxiety, because she’d like to know how Valancourt is doing, but she doesn’t want to inquire herself. Emily gives Theresa some more money to get by and then leaves, wondering again how someone like Valancourt could ever get corrupted.
Emily continues to find new evidence that either she judged Valancourt too quickly or he has been able to reform himself. Theresa’s welfare has been a recurring worry of Emily's throughout the story, and so by helping Theresa, he shows that he understands what Emily values as well as showing that he hasn’t lost his sense of generosity, even after his time in Paris.
Themes
