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Volume 3, Chapter 13
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Mysteries of Udolpho, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Marriage, Love, and Inheritance
The Wonders of Nature
Mystery and Superstition
Mortality
The Value of Education and Art
Summary
Analysis
That evening, Emily and Valancourt meet in the library for their planned talk while the Count De Villefort is also present. Valancourt can’t take it anymore and asks if Emily still loves him. Emily says she used to, but Valancourt’s recent behavior has forced her to break off their connection. Valancourt is shocked by this response. He expresses remorse and promises he can be better.
Valancourt pleads with Emily, asking her to remember how pleasant the days were when they first met. But Emily says those days are no good, so long as she can still remember the present. Before Emily leaves, Valancourt gets her to promise that she’ll see him just one more time before they part ways forever.
Although Emily often dreamed about reliving the past when trapped at Udolpho, she now focuses on the present, showing once again how her character has learned to face unpleasant truths rather than avoiding them with nostalgia.
Themes
Emily goes back to her room and thinks about everything she’s done, wondering if she made the right decisions. A part of her still wants to believe she can reform Valancourt. She forgets that Dorothée was supposed to come tell her about the Marchioness De Villeroi.
Emily appears strong in front of Valancourt, but privately she has doubts about her decision, reflecting the difficult moral decision she faces. Emily herself has grown over the course of the story, and this raises the question of whether Valancourt could too.
Themes
