2. Much the same kind of question, with a different slant, can be asked about her as a representation of a feminine consciousness, especially in contrast to the threatening males (the Marquis, La Motte) that surround her. In what ways does the representation of her consciousness seem gendered? If she does represent a particularly feminine way of looking at the world, what are the defining characteristics of that view?
3. Adeline is a reader, and the most dramatic instance of her reading is that of the mysterious manuscript. How does she read? What are her reactions? What is the relationship of the interpretation of texts in the novel to the interpretation of experience? Is her position as both reader and character analogous to the position of the actual reader of the novel (e.g., yourself)?
4. In addition to having a verse motto for virtually every chapter, the novel is filled with poetry. Characters, especially Adeline, remember or recite or sing verse frequently. What is the relation of this poetry to the plot, the characters, the atmosphere and the pace of the novel? What functions, rhetorical, narrative, or thematic, are served by the poems that the novel includes?
5. We see very little of the novel from the perspective of its hero, Theodore. He thus functions as an Other-differentiated from the heroine. One of the characteristics of his "otherness," of course, is the fact that he is a man. In what senses is he a gendered character, represented in part by his maleness, and what are his masculine characteristics? How is he different from other men in the novel? What is the relationship between his manliness and his heroism?
6. The La Luc family (though we encounter it late in the novel) contrasts markedly to the La Mottes. In addition to the personal and moral elements of that contrast, what large cultural differences does it seem to represent? Consider the Savoy section of the novel in terms of Rousseauvian ideas in particular and Enlightenment thought in general.
7. The character of La Motte may be in some respects the most interesting in the novel. It begins with him (though Adeline quickly makes her appearance). His fortunes are closely connected to hers. He remains a central consciousness for much of the novel. How is the reader supposed to evaluate him? He clearly is a highly flawed person, but there seems to be a distinction between him and the Marquis (who is worse than flawed). Is he a sympathetic character? Where does he stand in the moral scale of characters in the novel?
8. Radcliffe was particularly noted for the picturesque quality of her natural description (of scenes and places that she had never visited). How does natural description characterize morally significant places in the novel (the forest, for example, in contrast to the mountains of Savoy)? What is the relationship between external nature and internal consciousness? Are the landscape passages in the novel interesting in themselves? What do they suggest about ways of looking at nature?
9. Captivity and flight are dominant images in the novel. The La Mottes flee from "creditors and the persecution of the laws" and seem at least metaphorically captured in the abbey. Adeline and Theodore flee the Marquis, and Theodore becomes a captive. Is Romance a paranoiac novel? Is the paranoia confined within the text, merely intended to give the reader a psychological thrill? Or does it imply that it some ways paranoia (or at least fearful suspicion) may be an appropriate way of looking at life?
10. One source of the novel's paranoia seems to be sexual. To what degree is sexual control (in several senses) a criterion for evaluating the male characters and is sexual vulnerability a was of looking at the women (especially Adeline)? But elements of sexual perversion are suggested by the novel, especially incest. The representation of sexual transgression is mild in Radcliffe's novels as compared to others, but it seems significant nonetheless. What is its significance?
11. Regardless of the particular political views of their authors, gothic novels are often seen as reflecting political ideologies that parallel or react to the major political event of the 1790s-the French Revolution. Can Romance usefully be seen in these terms? In the final analysis, do its politics seem radical or conservative? Or do they reflect ideological gaps and inconsistencies in British culture?
12. What do you make of the ending of the novel? Is it merely a mechanical wrapping up of the plot, once the basic contrasts and moral positions have been made clear enough, or does it add to the substance of the novel? Does it resolve the human issues that have been raised by the novel (or does it leave these open)?