Emily St. Aubert would be belting "We Are Family" loud and clear if she could, since she's all about the family unit in Chapter 1 of The Mysteries of Udolpho. But Em learns that the boundaries between family and enemy can get really blurry when Montoni marries her Aunt Cheron. Family is turning on her right and left as Quesnel refuses to answer her letters, Aunt Cheron refuses to let her marry Valancourt, and Montoni refuses to let her out of the castle.
But it's all good, because Em's learning how to form her own family. The de Villefortes have her back when she's got nowhere to go, showing her that total strangers can be pretty decent to a poor little orphan girl.
Questions About Family
- By the end of the book, who is Emily's "family"? What's the difference between family and friends to her?
- What kind of family values does St. Aubert pass down to Emily?
- How do the de Villefortes differ as a family from the St. Auberts?
- How does Em regard Monsieur Quesnel and Montoni? Does she respect them as family members even when they're acting like jerks?
Chew on This
Em never forgets about her original family, since they gave her the tools to survive in the real world.
Em figures out that family is overrated when her surviving relations don't try to help her out.