To Read & To Write

The Castle of Otranto tends towards an absolutely ridiculous riot of personal calamities within a Sicilian house owned by the family Otranto. Yet the catastrophes within the relationships within the castle's household is so obvious, cliche even (at times resembling a soap opera, or some other television drama), a complex narrative of differing perspectives not withstanding, that Walpole's take on a medieval Italian tale is completely serious in resonance (though sometimes allowing for the occasional knowing smile, if not laughter).  The catastrophe, having to do with romances forbidden (between a prince and his daughter in law, for example), ownership of property (the heir to the castle being a peasant, for ex.), and indiscretion within the family (the bond between two maidens so strong that even their love for the same man could not break it), on and on... makes the story's revelation - perhaps an apocalyptic one - about what the subjective  idea of transgressions might d