Walpole’s Use of Erroneous Identities

While many critics and scholars consider the mistaken identity in gothic literature to be clichéd and, therefore, silly or ineffectual, I would like to argue that Horace Walpole’s use of false identity effectively serves his work in a number of ways. His utilization of this theme allowed him to distance himself from the role of author, increase reader interest, and raise the levels of horror and suspense within his novellas, while creating plot twists and driving the stories, in this case The Mysterious Mother and The Castle of Otranto, toward their conclusions.