The Mysteries of Udolpho

“But St. Aubert had too nice a sense of honor to fulfill the latter hope, and too small a portion of ambition to sacrifice what he called happiness, to the attainment of wealth.”

In the text, the happiest couples are those who marry for love, rather than money. St. Aubert may not have gained much wealth from his marriage, but he is described as gaining great happiness. In contrast, those who make marriages of convenience are often plagued by unhappiness, as in the case of Madame Montoni.

“A well-informed mind is the best security against the contagion of folly and vice. The vacant mind is ever on the watch for relief, and ready to plunge into error, to escape from the languor of idleness.”

St. Aubert’s advice to Emily shows his own wisdom and progressive ideals. For St. Aubert, an education is essential because it feeds the mind. Without this food, the hungry mind wanders and strays. This passage also speaks to the theme of The Importance of Balancing Sensibility and Reason.

“The sun was now setting upon the valley; its last light gleamed upon the water, and heightened the rich yellow and purple tints of the heath and broom, that overspread the mountains.”

Radcliffe’s writing style is often referred to as “painterly,” for its ability to evoke a visual image for the reader. This passage, describing a sunset over a valley during Emily and St. Aubert’s travels, shows how Radcliffe uses visual elements, such as color and light, to paint a picture with her words. The attention to natural scenery in the passage is also reflective of the text’s sympathetic depiction of nature as a place of beauty, solace, and purity of mind.