Reading Order
The Italian Reading Order
The Italian; or, The Confessional of the Black Penitents (1797) by Ann Radcliffe is her final novel and by the assessment of many critics her best — a Gothic narrative of abduction, Inquisition, and the corruption of clerical power, set in Naples and the surrounding countryside, in which the young Vincenzo di Vivaldi's love for the beautiful Ellena di Rosalbi is opposed by Vivaldi's mother and her confessor, the sinister monk Schedoni, who arranges for Ellena to be abducted to a remote convent and eventually plans her murder. Schedoni is the great figure of the novel and one of the greatest villains in Gothic fiction — a Miltonic character of profound spiritual corruption and intellectual power, whose past is gradually revealed to be even darker than his present. Radcliffe's innovation in The Italian over The Mysteries of Udolpho is the greater moral complexity of her villain: where Montoni (Udolpho's antagonist) is simply a ruthless schemer, Schedoni has genuine intellectual and even spiritual grandeur, and his relationship with Ellena approaches the psychological complexity of the Romantic villain-hero. The Italian also makes more sustained use of the Inquisition as a setting, and the scenes in which both Schedoni and Vivaldi appear before the Inquisition's tribunal are among the most atmospherically intense in Radcliffe's work.
Where to start
The Italian (1797) — the Oxford World's Classics edition edited by Frederick Garber, with an introduction by Nick Groom (2017), is the best modern edition. The novel is shorter and more focused than The Mysteries of Udolpho; reading Udolpho first provides context for Radcliffe's development, but The Italian stands entirely on its own.
Complete The Italian Book List
- 1Buy
The Italian (Oxford World's Classics)
Ann Radcliffe (ed. Frederick Garber, intro. Nick Groom)·2017·The best modern scholarly edition — Groom's introduction is the definitive account of The Italian's relationship to Radcliffe's earlier work and to the Romantic Villain tradition; essential notes on the Neapolitan setting and the Inquisition. - 2Buy
The Mysteries of Udolpho
Ann Radcliffe·1794·Radcliffe's most famous novel and the predecessor to The Italian — reading Udolpho first shows exactly what Radcliffe refined in her final work; the two together give the full picture of her Gothic achievement. - 3Buy
The Monk
Matthew Lewis·1796·Lewis wrote The Monk partly in response to Radcliffe's Gothic — where Radcliffe's monks and priests are sinister but constrained, Lewis's Ambrosio is genuinely diabolical; the contrast between Schedoni and Ambrosio defines the two poles of Gothic clerical villainy. - 4Buy
The Confessions of a Justified Sinner
James Hogg·1824·The Scottish Gothic that most fully develops the tradition of the villain with genuine intellectual grandeur — Hogg's antinomian murderer, like Schedoni, has a theological framework for his crimes; one of the greatest Gothic novels. - 5Buy
Melmoth the Wanderer
Charles Maturin·1820·The final great novel of the first Gothic tradition and Schedoni's heir — Maturin's Melmoth combines the Radcliffean atmosphere of Catholic Europe with a Faustian villain of immense power; the last and arguably the greatest of the first Gothic novels.
The Italian — Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Italian by Ann Radcliffe about?
The Italian (1797) by Ann Radcliffe follows Vincenzo di Vivaldi, a young Neapolitan nobleman whose love for the virtuous Ellena di Rosalbi is opposed by his mother and her confessor, the sinister monk Schedoni. When Schedoni arranges for Ellena to be abducted to a remote convent and eventually plans her murder, Vivaldi pursues her — and both are eventually drawn before the Inquisition's tribunal, where the full horror of Schedoni's past is revealed. The novel is a Gothic romance of persecution and vindication, and Schedoni is one of the great villains of the tradition — a character of genuine intellectual grandeur and profound moral corruption.
Is The Italian better than The Mysteries of Udolpho?
Many critics argue yes — The Italian (1797) is tighter, darker, and more psychologically complex than The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794). The explained supernatural formula is less prominent (Radcliffe trusts atmosphere more than mechanism), Schedoni is a more genuinely menacing and complex antagonist than Montoni, and the Inquisition scenes have an intensity that Udolpho doesn't reach. Udolpho is more famous and more influential (Northanger Abbey parodies it by name), but The Italian is the more artistically accomplished work. The ideal approach is to read Udolpho first for context and then The Italian for the peak of Radcliffe's achievement.
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