The Mysteries Of Udolpho

Radcliffe's wonderful depictions of nature in, The Mysteries Of Udolpho, can become quite boring after a while. I kept trying to rush passed it; but then i realized that this was not the way the novel is suppose to be read. The author does this for a reason; in order for the audience to escape and relax from their hectic everyday lives. I think we take too many things for granted in life; and her description of the landscape makes the reader appreciate nature and all the beautiful sceneries we ignore.
I absolutely LOVE the suspense in the novel; it's quite different then all the other books we have read in class. Throughout the semester I felt as though the endings of the novels we read weren't shocking. In fact I'm pretty sure half the class guessed that each character was going to end up within a stable environment in which they not only obtained wealth, but ended up exactly where they wanted to be and with the person they longed to be with. I felt that many of the endings were too much of a cliche, but in this novel, I can't guess what will happen at the end.. And I think that's why I'm enjoying it so much. I find it interesting that Radcliffe choses to make Montoni, the cruel and violent figure in the novel, a handsome powerful and forceful character. Valancourt is overpowered by Emily, but he signifies the safe and secure type; while Montoni represents the "bad boy".