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
After Emily leaves, Blanche misses her. Emily has promised to come back to visit, but the lack of a response from Valancourt has left her anxious. Finally, however, Emily does come back for another visit. At one point, Emily is crying and reading some old letters Valancourt sent when Dorothée walks in on her. Dorothée is shocked when she sees the miniature that Emily has from Madame St. Aubert, believing the portrait is of the Marchioness De Villeroi (when in fact, it’s Emily herself).
Emily seems to keep being drawn back to the chateau of the Count and Countess De Villefort, without quite knowing why. Ultimately, Emily’s physical resemblance to the deceased Marchioness (which suggests some sort of family relation) offers a clue to how the Marchioness’s story might connect to Emily’s.
Themes
Emily realizes that the papers St. Aubert wanted her to destroy must have had something to do with the Marchioness De Villeroi. Dorothée once again refuses to tell Emily anything more about the Marchioness De Villeroi, but she eventually relents and promises to tell the story later.
Although Emily herself hasn’t realized it, by this point the narration of the novel seems to be suggesting that the Marchioness De Villeroi was Emily’s mother, and that St. Aubert kept a miniature of the Marchioness because she was his secret lover. The novel builds suspense by creating a tension between what the audience knows (or thinks they know) from context and what Emily herself actually knows.
Themes
After dinner that evening, the Count de Villefort leads his family and Emily into the forest to witness some festivities that the peasants are throwing, with dancing and music. While Emily is enjoying the festival, suddenly, she thinks she hears the voice of Valancourt. She looks, and it is indeed him. Everything else seems to disappear for Emily, and she and Valancourt greet each other affectionately.
Valancourt’s appearance after such a long gap in the novel would seem to be a joyous occasion, and yet, the initial reunion is a little muted. Once again, the audience knows something that Emily herself doesn’t: that Valancourt may or may not have been living a wild lifestyle in Paris while Emily was away.
Themes
Emily and Valancourt catch up, then Emily introduces him to the Count de Villefort. The Count invites Valancourt to join the festivities, but he looks a little colder than usual. As Emily and Valancourt talk more alone, Valancourt tells her that he is “unworthy” of her. Emily wonders what he could mean, but she urges him to put off that subject for later. But Valancourt says he can’t forget and that he regrets that he’s less innocent now than he used to be.
The Count is a good friend of Du Pont (who is obsessed with Emily), so it makes sense that the Count is suspicious of Valancourt (who is a rival of Du Pont). Valancourt’s claim that he is unworthy of her seems to be a reference to the time he spent in Paris, although at this point it’s still unclear to what extent Valancourt did anything immoral while he was in the city.
Themes
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Just then, Blanche approaches, and Emily introduces her to Valancourt as well. That evening, when the Count De Villefort leaves the festivities, he doesn’t ask Valancourt to join him. The next day, Emily and the Count go on a walk, and he asks her how long she’s known Valancourt. The Count says that although he regrets to do it, he feels he has to tell Emily something important about Valancourt.
This passage reveals that Count De Villefort’s reservations about Valancourt go deeper than just the Count being friends with Du Pont and preferring Du Pont for Emily. Without any authority figures left in her own family to guide her, Emily seems to turn to Count De Villefort in this passage to provide the type of advice that St. Aubert once used to give her.
Themes
The Count De Villefort reveals that Valancourt has done a lot of gambling, and his early wins led other people to trust him with their money. But now he has lost a lot of money, both for himself and others. Emily says she doesn’t doubt the Count, but she hopes that Valancourt has just made a one-time mistake. But the Count says it gets worse: Valancourt has been in prison in Paris twice, and the second time, he only got out due to the intervention of a well-known Parisian Countess.
Valancourt’s chapter in Paris suggested revelry but not gambling on the scale that Count De Villefort is suggesting. This means that either the earlier chapter withheld information (a trick this novel sometimes uses) or Count Villefort has received exaggerated information. Although Emily has seen proof of Valancourt’s good side, she has also learned from her time at Udolpho that people are not always as they seem on the surface.
Themes
Emily faints and would’ve fallen from her seat if the Count De Villefort didn’t catch her. Soon after Emily revives, Valancourt comes in and can figure out what they’ve been talking about. Emily says she doesn’t feel well but can see Valancourt the next day. At dinner, Emily makes secret plans to return to the convent to get away from all the company around her. The Count advises Emily that, whatever she plans to do with Valancourt, it would be best for both of them to decide quickly.
Emily’s frequent fainting may suggest physical weakness. But it doesn’t change the fact that Emily can be mentally tough, able to consider difficult truths like the possibility that Valancourt has been unfaithful to her, rather than trying to ignore these truths. The third volume ends on one of the biggest cliffhangers so far, with Emily’s blissful future with Valancourt suddenly in jeopardy as she fears he’s no longer the man she thought she knew from before.
Themes
