Essay On The Romance Of The Forest Of Fontangville

The Romance of the Forest by Ann Radcliffe, a Gothic novel first published in 1791, details the adventures of Adeline, a young woman who is abandoned by her father and left to the mercy of strangers. Adeline is rescued from this apparent abandonment by the La Mottes, who are retreating from Paris due to the financial wrongdoings of the family's figurehead, Monsieur Pierre de la Motte. In Volume II, Adeline is promised to the Marquis de Montalt, a powerful man who demands to receive the girl's affections in exchange for the family's continued protection and residence at the ruined abbey where they have found refuge. In a short passage in Volume II, Adeline has been apprehended after a failed escape attempt, and terror overtakes her as she gradually

For example, towards the beginning of the passage, Adeline becomes suspicious "that this [is] the forest of Fontangville." The alliteration apparent in the repetition of an "f" sound in forest and Fontangville appears to make the phrase more noticeable and more memorable. It also, perhaps, imbues this forest with a greater significance and presence. Rather than simply being regarded as a forest, it is the "forest of Fontangville," a location that is foreboding for Adeline. For her, the forest is both a place of refuge and a means of escape. Adeline's mental faculties are personified in this passage, as seen in the following: "Her mind revolted at the picture her fancy drew." Adeline's "mind" can be understand as reason, while her "fancy" is, perhaps, her imagination. The horrors of Adeline's imagination give way to conjecture, which reason attempts to subdue. She fears "the idea of going to the villa," where she was previously held captive by the Marquis. As her suspicions increase in power, she imagines returning the "the abbey," where "she would be equally in the power of the Marquis, and also in that of her cruel enemy, La Motte"