Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle is a novel by William Harrison Ainsworth serially published in 1842. It is a historical romance with gothic elements that depicts Henry VIII's pursuit of Anne Boleyn. Intertwined with the story are the actions of Herne the Hunter, a legendary ghost that haunts Windsor woods.

W H Horne, in A New Spirit of the Age, claims that Ainsworth's "so-called historical romance of 'Windsor Castle' is not to be regarded as a work of literature open to serious criticism. It is a picture book, and full of very pretty pictures. Also full of catalogues of numberless suits of clothes. Such a passion, indeed, he has for describing clothes, that he frequently gives us two suits with a single body [...] As to plot or story it does not pretend to any."

In 1911, S. M. Ellis claims that "Windsor Castle was thus a great success; and it is still very popular. This is not to be wondered at, for, despite some faults in construction, it is one of Ainsworth's most fascinating works [...] More powerfully still did he interpret the mystery of trees in this romance [...] Most skilfully, too, he adapted and revivified for the purposes of his woodland romance the ancient and weirdly picturesque legend of Herne the Hunter". Ellis continues by claiming that "Windsor Castle is one of the best examples of Ainsworth's skill in combining a vivid and exciting narrative with wealth of historical detail and scenic description, the whole interwoven with supernatural events in the most natural manner, so much so that it is difficult to say where the mundane ends and the occult begins. It was an art quite peculiar to this author, who, by the force and interest of his narrative, compels the reader to accept his supernatural beings and improbable events as a necessary and essential part of the dramatic work in hand." George Worth, in 1972, focuses on the winding plots and gaps that Ainsworth leaves behind as he says, "Despite the basic unity of the novel, then, we have the feeling that Ainsworth allows himself to stray too often from the main, broad track of his narrative and to abandon his reader at the end of little trails that lead nowhere." In 2003, Stephen Carver claims that the novel's depiction of Herne "is Ainsworth at his gothic best, rivalling Lewis, Maturin and even Byron. Herne effortlessly steals every scene in which he appears, much as he steals souls." (wikipedia.org)