A Maternal Tale Unfolds — Radcliffean Gothic

Abstract

Twice in Radcliffe’s work — once in A Sicilian Romance and again in The Mysteries of Udolpho¹ — a fragment of Shakespeare is recited to hint at the presence of spectres and secrets. This fragment evokes a juridical order that constructs authority out of the continuing presence of spectres. This economy of power is evident in early Gothic fiction, in Walpole and Reeve for example, both of whom re-work the scenes of haunting in Hamlet in order to interrogate disputed paternal rule. The ghost of Hamlet’s father unfolds a tale of murderous usurpation which demands retribution and he commands Hamlet to swear to set it right. Derrida’s interpretation of this moment — the moment of the juridical oath whereby Hamlet accepts his inheritance — is extremely pertinent to a reading of Radcliffe’s variations upon this Gothic Shakespearean theme. Hamlet’s initial response to the spectre’s command is to interpret it as a curse: ‘The time is out of joint/Oh Curs’d spite, that ever I was born to set it right.’ Derrida foregrounds Hamlet’s notion of disjointed time here, relating it to spectrality and legal temporality: ‘One never inherits’, he says, ‘without coming to terms with some spectre’.² That is to say that the law of inheritance — which operates according to a certain legal temporality (the time that is ‘out of joint’) — demands that a determination is made with regard to some ‘spectre’. Hamlet must come to terms with, and determine his response to, a spectral command which is his inheritance and his ‘curse’.