In some cases, I argue below, her innocent psyche-what she does not perceive-protects her. (See: Deidre Shauna Lynch’s seminal The Economy of Character for an in-depth examination of how the term “character” evolved during the eighteenth and into the nineteenth century.) The very survival of Ellena’s Rosalba is dependent upon her ability to “read” the “character” of those around her. “Their visages, with view exceptions, seemed stamped with the characters of demons” (197). “A character of peculiar sadness was on her brow” (91). “The silence and deep repose of the landscape, served to impress this character more awfully on the heart” (65).

“… the character of Vivaldi lay before him as a map” (52). To that end, I posit that The Italian-as Radcliffe often puts it-“throws light on” readers’ internal and external landscapes, and works on/in multiple psychological layers.Įxamples of how Radcliffe uses “character,” which Sedgwick points out, include: I would add to Sedgwick’s idea of the dual usage of character a third signification: “character” can also denote a “real” person-as in, “He is a real character,”-and of course refers to fictional “characters” as well. Both “mark” exteriorly an internal meaning, be it a (“real” or fictional) person or an abstract concept being conveyed on the page. In “Imagery of the Surface in the Gothic Novel, Eve Sedgwick points out that: “In The Italian, ‘character’ is often a pivotal word in expressing the theme of writing on flesh”-in other words, “character” can signify (1) a person’s moral quality and (2) a graphic symbol on a page. Picart, 1722Ĭopyrighted work available under Creative Commons Attribution only licence CC BY 4.0

Wellcome interrogation room of the Spanish Inquisition with two priests and an accused heretic.

V0041642 An interrogation room of the Spanish Inquisition with two prĬredit: Wellcome Library, London.

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