The great beauty of a woman
The author vividly describes Adeline’s beauty (and not only her appearance, but the beauty of her soul as well) during the story. And this colorful description starts from the very beginning of the woman’s appearance in the story: “Her features, which were delicately beautiful, had gained from distress an expression of captivating sweetness: she had “An eye As when the blue sky trembles thro’ a cloud Of purest white.”[a phrase from a play of James Tomson] A habit of grey camlet, with short flashed sleeves, shewed, but did not adorn, her figure: it was thrown open at the bosom...“ These words adjust the reader to perceive this character as a positive one: the reader is easy to imagine the woman, as if she stands near him.
The gothic castle
The abbey where the main characters lived is often described in the story very vividly. The author writes about every detail of its look, but not prosaically, but artistically: ”The greater part of the pile appeared to be sinking into ruins, and that, which had withstood the ravages of time, shewed the remaining features of the fabric more awful in decay. The lofty battlements, thickly enwreathed with ivy, were half demolished, and become the residence of birds of prey. Huge fragments of the eastern tower, which was almost demolished, lay scattered amid the high grass, that waved slowly to the breeze. “The thistle shook its lonely head; the moss whistled to the wind.”[the author uses the words of a poet James McPherson] etc. The author describes not only the look of the building, it seems that he often describes its “mood”: gloom, grayness comparing with the bright and “happy” nature around it. Thus she highlights the atmosphere which prevails in relations among the characters in this place: there are many dark secrets in the abbey and near it, the characters betray each other, etc.
The dawns Adeline observed
Radcliffe often describes Adeline’s perceptions of the nature around. Especially vividly she describes the woman’s enjoyment of the dawn: The first tender tints of morning now appeared on the verge of the horizon, stealing upon the darkness; − so pure, so fine, so ætherial! It seemed as if Heaven was opening to the view. The dark mists were seen to roll off to the west, as the tints of light grew stronger, deepening the obscurity of that part of the hemisphere, and involving the features of the country below… At first, a small line of inconceivable splendour emerged on the horizon, which, quickly expanding, the sun appeared in all his glory, unveiling the whole face of nature, vivifying every colour of the landscape…” The author describes Adeline’s gratitude and adoration, and thus helps the reader to see the true woman’s soul: as pure and beautiful as this dawn.
