
	The attempt to bring in the more natural or realistic modern novel is not entirely successful in Walpole's work, though this "failure" is usually determined by viewing The Castle of Otranto as the definitive founding text of Gothic literature. The novel is, to modern-day audiences, and likely was (to an extent) to past audiences, confusing and difficult to follow, and not successful in evoking any true fear in the reader, though it can be considered 'sublime' through its use of the elements of obscurity. The format of the novel allowed the reader to see, and the writer to explore, the psychology of their characters, the reasons why a character might perform a certain action or hold a certain belief were available to be examined, created, or changed. The Castle of Otranto is limited in its development of its character's psyches, it doesn’t fully explore the motivations of its characters, possibly resulting from or causing the rather convoluted plotline of the novel. The idea of putting the reader in the mind of a character, however, was taken and expanded on by subsequent Gothic novelists, most controversially, perhaps, in Mathew Lewis's The Monk. In this novel the reader follows the corruption of Ambrosio, a respected monk in Italy. The novel was deemed blasphemous and the audiences of the time were quite horrified by actions and thoughts of the character. The ability of the writer to put the reader into the mind of a character opened the possibility of exploring the minds of insane and violent characters; many authors joining the Gothic genre followed this path. Indeed the concept was adopted and arguably master by the most famous of the romantics, Edgar Allen Poe, connecting the "modern" aspects through time to another literary movement.  The ideas present in The Castle of Otranto were clearly built on and developed in later works, prominently those of Ann Radcliffe and Mathew Lewis, though the elements are clear in Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca, a Gothic novel published in 1938, and in the writings of the Romantics (who seemingly evolved from the Gothic). The 'new' or modern novel format allowed the Gothic to continue to be, in part, accessible to later audiences and writers. The explanation or examination of the psychology behind the otherwise inexplicable actions of the characters allows modern audiences to understand at least a part of the original intention. The entirety of the original effect The Castle of Otranto may have had on its readers is lost, as one cannot ever recreate the exact state of mind of the time, but certain elements and tools have become instilled in the present—preserving them as "new" forever.   The "old" aspects of the Gothic have remained as icons and, rather often, clichés, in present times. Almost any audience would recognize the ominous Gothic castle, and the gloomy, restrictive, and depressing effect it has on the setting. The idea that chivalry has fallen from society is constantly reinvented and presented in different works, each generation seem to view the next as morally hopeless. 