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Volume 4, Chapter 8
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 night, the Baron St. Foix stays up worrying about Count de Villefort. He is overjoyed the next morning to see that the Count and Henri are both unharmed. The Count goes to see Emily at the convent and informs her of the progress. After he leaves, the nuns, who are also familiar with Ludovico’s disappearance, discuss the matter among themselves. A sister named Agnes is particularly vocal about how no mortal is free of the guilt of sin. Privately, the sister Frances apologizes to Emily and promises to explain about Agnes later.
The survival of Count de Villefort and Henri casts further doubt on the idea that anything supernatural is happening in the chateau, and yet, Ludovico’s disappearance remains an unexplainable mystery. Sister Agnes’s mysterious comments about the inability of any mortal to escape sin seems to be relevant for many characters in the story, most recently Montoni, who died as a result of his past sins.
Themes
When Count de Villefort returns home, Du Pont is in a melancholy mood due to Emily’s absence. The Count tries to reassure Du Pont that he’ll feel better with time, because perhaps with time Emily will be able to see his worth.
Although Du Pont made a bad first impression with the creepy way he stalked Emily, he does help her escape and he has the blessing of Count de Villefort, raising the possibility that he could be a viable alternative to Valancourt after all (assuming Valancourt never reforms himself).
Themes
Emily goes to meet with Frances to hear about Agnes. Apparently, Agnes was from a wealthy family, but a lower-class man loved her. Her father forced her to marry someone else, but Agnes didn’t stay faithful to him, and so her father forced her to join the monastery. Ever since, Agnes has had occasional fits where she gets wild.
This story that Frances tells suggests that Agnes became a nun not out of faith but as the result of a punishment by her father. This version of religion as a punishment contrasts sharply between Emily’s own views of religion, which involve celebrating the wonders of nature, once again illustrating why she (and her counterpart Blanche) have ambivalent views toward monastic life.
Themes
Frances’s story of Agnes reminds Emily of the Marchioness de Villeroi. She asks Frances if she knew Agnes when she was young. Frances wasn’t in the convent at the time, but she has heard Agnes was very beautiful. Frances says that now that she thinks of it, she can see a resemblance between Agnes and Emily. Emily notes that Agnes must have joined the convent right around the same time that the Marchioness de Villeroi died.
This passage seems to imply that perhaps the Marchioness de Villeroi didn’t die and instead gave birth to Emily and then took on the new role of Sister Agnes. Whether or not this is true, it seems clear that Agnes’s regular comments about being unable to escape the guilt of past sins may have direct relevance to Agnes’s own life.
Themes
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Several days later, Emily sees Count De Villefort again, and he tells Emily that he’s taking his family on a trip to stay with Baron St. Foix in his chateau. Emily makes plans herself to go to Thoulouse to see the estate she has inherited. The Count is sure he’ll visit Emily at some point there.
Emily has not been to her aunt’s old estate since the death of Madame Montoni, and so her upcoming trip presents yet another opportunity for Emily to face mortality and potentially grow from it.
Themes
