WHEN THE CASTLE ACTS: LANDSCAPE AS AGENT, ECOCRITICAL AGENCY AND MORAL JUSTICE IN WALPOLES THE CASTLE OF OTRANTO (1764)

This paper provides an ecocritical reading of Horace Walpoles The Castle of Otranto" (1764). It shows how non-human forces, architecture, objects, and natural phenomena act as active agents of justice. The castle and its surrounds have an impact on events without human intervention, from the huge helmet that kills Conrad to the moonlit pathways that lead Isabella and the spectacular collapse of walls and statues. Using concepts from ecocriticism and post-humanist theory, this analysis reveals how Gothic architecture, visual artifacts, and environmental elements serve as moral and causal agents, protecting the innocent and punishing wrongdoing. This study focuses on the aesthetics of decay, auditory and visual signals, and the materiality of objects. The essay focuses on Walpole's vision of a society in which nonhuman forces help to maintain moral order. By decentering human power, this reading reimagines Gothic justice and legacy, revealing an early kind of ecological conscience within Gothic fiction. Ultimately, this paper situates The Castle of Otranto (1764) within Eco-Gothic scholarship. It argues that Walpoles story anticipates later Gothic explorations of material and environmental agency. It also demonstrates how literature can portray ethical relationships among humans, objects, and the natural world. Keywords: Ecocriticism, Posthumanism, Eco-Gothic, Non-Human Agency, Gothic Justice