The Castle of Otranto

Since Hippolita has agreed to the divorce, Manfred bribes Bianca, Matilda’s and Hippolita’s servant, to spy on Isabella, but Bianca is thwarted by a giant hand in armor. When Frederic finds out about the spying, he calls off his marriage to Matilda and his daughter’s marriage to Manfred. To persuade Frederic to change his mind, Manfred gets Frederic drunk at a banquet and seats him next to Matilda in hopes that he will rekindle his love for her.

Frederic attempts to find Hippolita to see if she truly consented to a divorce. When he enters the church, he sees a cloaked figure he believes is Hippolita, but it turns out to be the skeletal remains of the hermit Frederic met in the forest of Joppa. The ghost scolds Frederic for subjecting his daughter to danger and placing his own sexual desires above her safety. Frederic falls to the floor and prays. When Hippolita arrives at the church, she screams in terror thinking that Frederic is dead. At this, Frederic awakens and runs from the church, side-stepping Manfred

Manfred is furious when his spy tells him that Isabella and

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