SOURCE: Introduction to The Romance of the Forest, by Ann Radcliffe, edited by Chloe Chard, Oxford University Press, 1986, pp. vii-xxiv.

In the following essay Chard introduces the general features of this early work of Radcliffe's. In addition to discussing the novel's genre, immediate critical reception, and place in literary history, Chard compares The Romance of the Forest to Radcliffe's later work in terms of her use of plot, characterization, and description.

Adeline, the heroine of The Romance of the Forest, is portrayed, towards the middle of the novel, reading an old and partially illegible manuscript which she has found in a concealed room in a ruined abbey, and which tells a story of imprisonment and suffering within the confines of this same building. As she comes to the words 'Last night! last night! O scene of horror!', her reactions are recounted as follows:

Adeline shuddered. She feared...