The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion

For discussing chapter 2 please be aware if you have not completed this chapter spoilers may be posted here.

I wonder if there is going to be any connection between the unexpected and seemingly strange circumstances of the death of Rheinfeldt and the unusual circumstances of the new visitor just arrived at the Schloss.

These are two rather curious events to have taken place.

Also I cannot help but notice the many allusions to mysticism within this chapter, which do help enhance the Gothic atmosphere by suggesting occult knowledge and hidden perhaps dark secrets.

I rather enjoyed the passages describing the moonlit night.

Another thing which caught my attention, though I know this was a very different world, with quite a different perspective and expectations than our own world today but it was difficult to comprehend the idea of a woman being willing to leave her child behind with complete strangers.

And one cannot help but wonder just what was so dire that led her to be in such a desperation situation and in such a hurry to get away.

I had thought there was a foreshadowing with the letter because of its mysterious contents. It seemed a bit convenient with the mention of the companion and now the new girl. The mother seemed to RUN away so easily!

Theresa wrote: "I had thought there was a foreshadowing with the letter because of its mysterious contents. It seemed a bit convenient with the mention of the companion and now the new girl. The mother seemed to R..."

Yes I think there is a lot of foreshadowing here.

There is also the way in which the narrator noted the mother did not speak or look at the girl as affectionately as one might expect.

I also wondered about her statement to narrator's father when he first proposed letting her daughter stay with them:

"I cannot do that, sir, it would be to task your kindness and chivalry too cruelly"

I wondered if there is any specific significance in the use of the word "cruelly" and if something sinister about the girl (and what the looking after her might cause) is implied.

Sure. One minute they're reading about poor Bertha Rheinfelt who "died in the peace of innocence, and in the glorious hope of a blessed futurity. The fiend who betrayed our infatuated hospitality has done it all. I thought I was receiving into my house innocence, gaiety, a charming companion for my lost Bertha. Heavens! what a fool have I been" and the next minute Dad is inviting a strange "companion" into their home for three months!

I think it's interesting that I came away with both the sensation that the galloping horses had shied at the stone cross due to some evil in them (or their passengers) and also that the scene had been staged. Mostly because of the theatrics of the "mother," her weird story, and her change in behavior once the object was achieved.

I also wondered how a parent could leave a sick child with strangers for three months. I don't know if it's the time period or it's just strange. With regard to the carriage overturning, several things struck me as strange.

The carriage is overturned, yet appears to have easily been righted. I can't help but wonder if this is leading to an overturning in the characters' lives by this houseguest.

Interesting about the cross Renee. I'm going to have to go back and take a look at that. I just started it tonight after a very long day so I may have missed that.

The scene is set beautifully with the description of the moonlight and the isolation. Definitely a creepy setting, yet somehow it doesn't sound creepy until the carriage incident.